Today at noon, Ballet Arkansas artistic director Michael Bearden, will discuss the upcoming performance by that company at the Clinton School.

Under the artistic direction of Michael Bearden, Ballet Arkansas will be performing its annual spring mixed repertory show April 17-19, 2015 at the Arkansas Repertory Theater. The show is entitled “Who Cares?” after the finale piece created by world-renowned choreographer George Balanchine with music by George Gershwin.  The entire evening has a line-up of five works.

This show will be groundbreaking for Ballet Arkansas in two ways: Hilary Wolfley, the winner of Ballet Arkansas’s first annual Visions Choreographic Competition will debut the full length version of her award-winning piece and this will be the first time an Arkansas entity will be performing an official Balanchine work.

Bearden will give a presentation on George Balanchine and his impact on the world of dance and what it means in the greater dance world that Ballet Arkansas was authorized by the Balanchine Trust to perform a piece of his work.

Bearden is in his second season as Ballet Arkansas‘ Artistic Director and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Utah Department of Ballet. A native of Searcy, Arkansas, he received his training at the Academy of Ballet Arkansas and went on to have a fourteen year career with Ballet West, in Salt Lake City. As a Principal Dancer at Ballet West, Michael performed leading roles in ballets by some of the world’s greatest choreographers including Balanchine, Ashton, Tudor, Forsythe, Stevenson, Welch, Dove, Tetley, Tharp, Kylian and Christopher Bruce.

With a strong interest in project management, in May 2005, Michael led a team of Ballet West dancers in organizing a special performance to benefit Utah Cancer Foundation. The event, “A Dance for Life” raised more than $20,000. In 2007, he was the project manager for Ballet West‘s 2007 calendar, which highlighted the Artists of Ballet West in some of Utah’s most memorable settings. As a choreographer, Mr. Bearden has created or staged his works for Ballet West, the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, the University of Cincinnati, Belhaven University and Texas Christian University. Michael is grateful for the continued opportunity to give back to the community by helping to guide Ballet Arkansas to new heights.