Cleveland Ballet will perform a free outdoor show called Ballet on the Lake at North Coast Yard on September 19 at 7 p.m., picking up a date that was postponed from its original July slot. The lakefront program will include a picnic-themed piece set to Tchaikovsky's Dances for Piano and Violin, the Dance of the Toreadors from Don Quixote, and will culminate with excerpts from Swan Lake. Admission is free, though reservations are encouraged.
The performance had originally been scheduled for July 18 but was postponed, according to Cleveland.com. Guests who already held reservations for the July date need to re-register for the new September date, per Cleveland Ballet's event page. The event is co-presented by One Cleveland, a citywide civic pride initiative, and reservations can be made by emailing [email protected] or calling 216-320-9000, extension 107.
Seating will include a limited number of first-come, first-served seats, and attendees can bring their own lawn chairs. Guests are encouraged to arrive early, and food trucks will be on site at North Coast Yard alongside a bar and small-bites menu available for purchase. Great Lakes Brewing Company serves as the exclusive beer partner for the venue's Yard Bar this summer season, under an agreement with the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation.
Where to Find the Lakefront Venue
North Coast Yard occupies a city-owned lot at 515 Erieside Ave. in Cleveland, situated north of Cleveland Browns Stadium and next to the Steamship Mather. The space operates daily from dawn to dusk and offers free vehicle parking in the adjacent city lot on weekdays after 4 p.m., with bike racks also available for those seeking alternative transportation. The North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation created the yard as a seasonal pilot pop-up meant to test community lakefront activation while the agency's multi-decade redevelopment plans take shape.
Those broader plans include the North Coast Master Plan, which aims to redevelop roughly 55 acres of downtown lakefront land around Huntington Bank Field and build a pedestrian land bridge, called the North Coast Connector, over the railroad tracks and Shoreway highway. The bridge is intended to close a century-old physical gap between downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie, according to the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation. North Coast Yard has hosted other high-profile gatherings this year, including Machine Gun Kelly's MGK Day festival, which Hoodline previously covered in detail.
A Company Rebuilding Under New Leadership
Cleveland Ballet Artistic Director Timour Bourtasenkov choreographed the Picnic segment of the lakefront program. In a statement, Bourtasenkov said Ballet on the Lake allows Cleveland Ballet to celebrate its art form and hometown with a welcoming, memorable and freely accessible evening of dance.
Bourtasenkov took over as artistic director in early 2024 following an independent investigation that led to the departure of co-founders Michael Krasnyansky and Gladisa Guadalupe, according to Dance Magazine. He had served as the company's Director of Repertoire before assuming artistic leadership. Before joining Cleveland Ballet, Bourtasenkov trained at the Moldavian Opera House and the Bolshoi Ballet and performed as a principal dancer and founding member with Carolina Ballet, and he has since created choreographed works for companies including Carolina Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and Ballet Hawaii.
The current Cleveland Ballet organization was established in 2014, making it the third separate arts company in the city's history to carry that name, following earlier iterations founded in 1935 and 1972. The 1972 company operated for nearly three decades before relocating to California in 2000, per the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History — a bit of institutional history Hoodline explored further in its Giselle season preview.
What Happens If the Weather Turns
Because North Coast Yard offers no indoor rain location, Cleveland Ballet's event guidelines specify that the performance will be canceled outright if weather conditions on September 19 prove unsuitable, rather than moved indoors. That's a real consideration for an outdoor lakefront show, given the sudden wind shifts and rainstorms that can sweep in off Lake Erie.
The free lakefront show also serves as a lead-in to Cleveland Ballet's ticketed fall season. The company will open its 2026–2027 mainstage season at Playhouse Square's Connor Palace on October 23–24 with four performances of the story ballet Giselle, continuing a residency at Playhouse Square that has run since October 2017.
