Today, Grand Rapids Ballet Company announced its 2013-2014 season performances, which includes several classics as well as newer pieces. Dracula (Oct 25-27 and Oct. 31-Nov. 2) returns to the ballet with new scenery, projections and an orchestrated score. A special performance is included on Oct. 31 for audiences to celebrate Halloween with one of the most frightening stores in history.

The holiday season wouldn't be the same without the classic The Nutcracker (Dec. 13-15 and 20-22), which features live music from the Grand Rapids Symphony. Festivities continue during Valentine's Day (Feb. 14-16 and 21-23), where the Ballet has chosen a three-part performance featuring Rubies from Geroge Balanchine's Jewels, known as one of the first full-length abstract ballets.

This season, Movemedia (April 12-13 and 26-27 ) will expand with award-winning choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Mario Radacovsky (Black Swan White Swan, Romeo and Juliet) and Kirk Peterson (Amazed in Burning Dreams). 

Finally, the Ballet presents world premiere of Olivier Wevers' (The Sofa, This is Not a Raincoat) version of Shakespeare's beloved comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream (May 9-11 and 16-18), to Grand Rapids audiences. 

Tickets for these performances are on sale now at grballet.com.

Pictured: Movemedia 2012; credit Ron McKinney 

Kalamazoo, Mich. is starting to become known as a modern and contemporary dance hub, mostly in part of the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, also known as RADFest.

The festival was started by the Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers as a platform for new and emerging choreographers to show their work.

Entering into its third year, RADFest has grown substantially and includes well-established independent choreographers, dance companies and artistic directors, as well as university students. This year, the festival received between 30-40 video entries from choreographers all across the country, including New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Twenty pieces were chosen and will be presented during the three-day festival.

"We open it up for dance styles in the modern dance, post-modern dance and contemporary dance categories," said Festival Coordinator Rachel Miller. "We stay away from classical, jazz, musical theater, those sorts of things. The reason we call it an alternative dance festival is because the work is usually pretty experimental. For example, there are a few pieces that will be in the festival that incorporate film ... There are some people who have commissioned sculptures for their work. There are a couple of pieces that have some nudity in them."

The festival includes four concerts, with each concert featuring five original works by the different choreographers.

Four master class workshops are also offered, including Klein Technique by Barbara Mahler.

"We are extremely excited to have Barbara, because she is a master instructor in Klein Technique. There are only about six instructors in the United States who teach Klein Technique and only two master instructors and she is one of them . . . People come from all over the world to study with her."

Mahler will also be performing an autobiographical solo during the festival, which Miller says is a very moving work.

Maya Cadwell Stovall and Kendra Ross have teamed up on an exciting piece that incorporates film.

"The piece is called ‘destruction/revitalization-repurposing,' and it was a film that was featured at the Detroit Gallery. They will be adding a live dance element. That will be exciting because it will be the premiere of the live performance. It's pretty innovative."

RADFest is not just for professional choreographers and dancers. Even people without a dance background can enjoy the festival.

"First of all, it's a treat to get to see different pieces from different choreographers, because usually when you go to a dance concert it's all one company, two hours of the same company. So that in and of itself is a really good way to introduce yourself to contemporary dance."

Pictured: Dancer Simone Baechle performs Winifred Haun’s dance composition “Bento.” Photo by Matthew Gregory Hollis.

Longtime McCartney impersonator Tony Kishman has been performing the legendary singer's works for more than 30 years, beginning in the Broadway tribute show Beatlemania in the late ‘70s. With Live and Let Die, he brings some of the most popular Beatles songs to life, crooning hits like "Hey Jude" and "Hello Good-bye" with the occasional help of fellow surrogate Beatles John Merjave, Jim Owen and Chris Camilleri as George, John and Ringo, respectively.

Bye, Bye, Birdie!
Grand Rapids Civic Theater
March 1-18, show times at 2 and 7:30 p.m.
$16-$30
grct.org, (616) 222-6650

Based on the book by Michael Stewart and boasting an original cast with Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, Bye Bye Birdie is a satire inspired by Elvis Presley's draft into the Army in 1957. The Tony-Award winning play follows rock 'n' roll star Conrad Birdie's final civilian days as he turns small-town Sweet Apple, Ohio upside down with a last-minute publicity stunt to promote his new song, "One Last Kiss."

Tony Award winner for Excellence in Theater, The Acting Company brings to the stage Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, his shortest and one of his most farcical plays. The comedy follows long lost twins — naturally both named Antipholus — and the mishaps that take place over the course of one day. Their twin servants and fellow family members add to the slapstick comedy as issues of mistaken identity and wrongful accusations ensure hilarity.

The night will begin with a touch of romance as the dancers perform choreographer August Bournonville's "Flower Festival in Genzano."

"'Flower Festival in Genzano' is a romantic work set in an Italian village, performed with energy from Rossini's musical score and the dynamic choreography of Bournonville," said Patricia Barker, artistic director for the Grand Rapids Ballet.

The one-act ballet demands intricate, fast-paced footwork from its dancers.

Next up is Choreographer David Parson's "The Envelope," which is a lighthearted piece that will have audience members emitting laughter as it pokes fun at the bureaucratic paper-pusher.

The dancers have the opportunity to show off their range in this contemporary movement, also set to a Rossini score.

Choreographer Ulysses Dove's "Red Angels" is the featured work of the night and is the most visually stunning with its combination of movement and brilliant color.

Barker said the piece is a "visually dramatic, dynamically charged abstract work highlighting the senses with its intense color, sound and sensual impact."

"The music is a riveting score for electric violin by Richard Einhorn, and is dedicated to Mary Rowell, a violinist. It was written for a five-string electric violin and consists of virtuoso violin solos based on rock drum rhythms. The solo violin is used more percussively than lyrically. Bits of popular musical styles appear; in the first movement, blues-rock chording and Cajun fiddling; in the fourth, a Scottish reel can be heard.

"Rowell will be playing live at each of our performances with our dancers soaring to new challenges in this work. It is not one to be missed."

Finally, the night will conclude with another comedic piece, "Con Amore," which is set to three of Rossini's overtures.

"In my continued effort to present proven works by renowned choreographers to our growing audiences, these four works are not only important works in the dance world that continue to grow and challenge our dancers, [but also] entertain and delight our audiences all the while capturing the spirit of Valentine's," Barker said. "What a perfect way to spend an evening with friends, family or maybe that someone special for a wonderful Valentine's evening."

Photo: Andrew Terzes

Mary Poppins
DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids
Feb. 22-26, show times at 1, 2, 6:30, 7:30 and 8 p.m.
$17.50-$72.50
devosperformancehall.com, (616) 742-6500

Broadway Grand Rapids brings excitement for the whole family with the classic show, Mary Poppins. A combination of P.I. Travers' original story and Walt Disney's popular film, the Tony Award-winning show features fan favorite songs like, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee." It's a childhood classic that is sure to animate the kid in everybody's heart with extravagant dancing and over-the-top musical numbers. Mary Poppins takes the audience on a toe-tapping adventure and will brighten any dark winter mood.

The Magic Flute
DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids
Feb. 3-4, 7:30 p.m.
$20-$94 / devosperformancehall.com, (616) 742-6500

Escape to Egypt via the opera. The Magic Flute combines the fantasy world of ancient Egypt with a score by Mozart. Snake-killing ladies, ancient Greek gods and the Queen of the Night entice viewers in a two-act show of music, magic and more. The original opera was composed in German by Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder in 1791 and has since become one of the world's most beloved compositions.

In the Heights
Miller Auditorium, Kalamazoo
Feb. 24, 8 p.m.
$25-$55 / millerauditorium.com, (269) 387-2300

The Grand Rapids Ballet Company will be teaming up with the Grand Rapids Symphony to perform this masterful ballet that is inseparable from the Christmas season. A staple of any ballet company, The Nutcracker has been performed in West Michigan since before the GRBC existed. Its fanciful story of sugarplum fairies, a mouse king, dancing snowflakes and a Nutcracker that comes to life captivates audiences and sparks imaginations.

"Often, people are first introduced to ballet through The Nutcracker," said Misty Hendricks, marketing and box office director for the GRBC. "It's got great music, a fun story and those big scenes like the battle or the party scenes. It has a little something for everyone."

Premiering in 1892, more than a century of tradition has codified much of the choreography for The Nutcracker. Still Patricia Barker, artistic director at the GRBC, is planning a few surprises for the audience.

"I don't want to give it away, but this year we've put in some fun new things in the second act," Hendricks said. "Like in the Chinese scene we've added a new character and we've added in a few fun characters in the ethnic dance scenes."

Though the beauty of the dancers and choreography is certainly reason enough to attend, the GRS will be accompanying the dancers with Tchaikovsky's uplifting score that has become synonymous with the Christmas season.

"...it's like a two-for-one deal," Hendricks said. "Because of all the stores and shops, you know [the music] even if you don't think you know it."

What's special this year is the GRBC will salute armed forces. Every currently serving member of the armed forces that presents their military ID at the box office will receive two complimentary tickets to any performance they choose. On Military Appreciation Day (Nov. 25) at the matinee, the GRBC will recognize the service of the members of the military in the lobby before the show.

The Nutcracker is second in a series of three holiday-themed productions, bookended by Dracula (October) and Amoré and More (February).

Photo: Andrew Terzes