Beth Sweeney, Ellen Moreau, Suzanne Hamilton, Becky Ruppert McMahon, Fran Bisselle, and Kathy Futey

David Shimotakahara, GroundWorks’ executive artistic director, with Cindy Dunn, GroundWorks board president.

From the sensual strums of David Broza’s acoustic guitar to the rousing rap of “Hamilton,”

the 10th annual pairing of civic leaders and dance artists filled the Cleveland Museum of Art’s auditorium with enthusiastic support for the GroundWorks Dance Theater.

This year’s band of celebrity dancers included Gigi Patsche, owner of Gigi’s on Fairmount; Richard Clark, vice president of the John P. Murphy and Kulas foundations; Susan Lucier, actress/director; Karen Cooper, physician/director of women’s health institute at The Cleveland Clinic; Oren Baratz, senior vice president of external affairs for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; Nancy Osgood, president of The Osgood Group; and Jennifer Colemna, senior program officer at The George Gund Foundation.

The event welcomed back past celebrity participants, including Class of 2017’s Enid Rosenberg and Larry Zukerman, who emceed the vibrant program and corralled donations based on audience reactions. Adding a touch of bitter to the overwhelmingly sweet and sassy displays, the evening marked the final performances of two veteran GroundWorks artists: Felise Bagley and Damien Highfield, who are retiring after two decades of sharing the stage with both Ohio Ballet and GroundWorks.

Nolan Beck, Joy Roller, and Stephanie Sheldon

As Broza’s Israeli song challenged “All or Nothing,” the dancers – first timers and veterans – decidedly opted for all. STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY PEGGY TURBETT