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Biography
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Heinz Poll
In 1968, Heinz Poll founded the Chamber Ballet in Akron, which would later become Ohio Ballet. During his 31-year tenure as Ohio Ballet's founding artistic director, he choreographed more than 60 works for the company. His idiom was neoclassical, his style lyrical, his forte the plotless ballet. A chameleon and a sponge, he absorbed influences from a wide variety of sources, including choreographers Kurt Jooss and George Balanchine, and dancers Dore Hoyer and Fred Astaire.
The element that consistently sparked Poll's creative juices was music. His taste ranged from baroque concertos to commissioned scores. He set ballets to works by Bach, Handel, Debussy, and Ravel. He choreographed pops pieces to recordings by Benny Goodman and David Sanborn. The music closest to his heart, however, was written by 19th-century European romanticists. Among his finest works were Summer Night (1974) to Chopin, Schubert Waltzes (1975) and Scenes from Childhood (1977) to Schumann.
Besides creating the bulk of Ohio Ballet's repertoire, Poll acquired choreographic gems from 20th-century neoclassical and modern dance masters. He also gave creative opportunities to company dancers, and he commissioned works from leading contemporary choreographers
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