As the Summer wains and the weather turns, Ballet Under the Stars invites the community to dust off their lawn chairs and picnic blankets for an evening of ballet in Fountain Park.

After COVID-19 forced the event’s cancellation in 2020, last year’s event was a sigh of relief as Ballet Under the Stars returned in September of 2021. This year, Ballet Arizona will kick off the 2022-2023 season on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. with several classical and contemporary ballet performances.

Ballet Under the Stars will then move throughout the Valley, performing in Glendale on Sept. 9, Phoenix on Sept. 10 and Goodyear on Sept. 11. More information can be found at balletaz.org/ballet-under-the-stars/.

Free and open to the public, Ballet Under the Stars allows Arizona communities to enjoy dance in a unique outdoor setting complete with a full stage, lighting, costumes and beautiful Arizona weather.

“Fountain Hills is really important because many of our patrons live there and it’s such a beautiful outdoor venue to enjoy ballet,” said Ballet Arizona Director of Marketing Mallory Porter.

Porter is always happy to see Fountain Hills come up as one of the few sites in the Valley that she can count on to host the community-based performance.

“We’ve been doing Ballet Under the Stars for more than 20 years, so we know we will always get a good turnout in Fountain Hills,” Porter said. “We urge everyone in the community to see Phoenix’s premier ballet perform in a community setting.”

Ballet Under the Stars is Ballet Arizona’s flagship community engagement program where the community can gather and enjoy an evening of dance.

“Ballet can sometimes be perceived as being a stuffy old or elite art form and it’s really not the case,” a press release said of the event. “That’s why we bring dance out of the traditional atmosphere so that people can feel like they are able to participate.”

The Town of Fountain Hills Park Lead Joe Beauvais is already hard at work preparing the space for Ballet Under the Stars and other upcoming outdoor events.

“We make sure the irrigation is off so nobody gets soaked and its clean over there,” Beauvais said. He and his team at Fountain Park have begun trimming some of the old olive trees in preparation for large gatherings.

“Everybody enjoys it. People walk by just to see it,” Beauvais said, who is always surprised at the turnout.

As this is an outdoor performance, masks are not required for patrons, however, patrons are responsible for respecting social distancing when possible. All performances begin at 7 p.m. and everyone is invited to attend.

“We would love to see some new faces,” Porter said. “We just hope everyone can come out, bring a picnic, bring your family, and enjoy the performance.”