Experience

The only official ticket sources to BalletMet events are the BalletMet Box Office, balletmet.org website and the CAPA Ticket Center. BalletMet is not responsible for tickets purchased from unauthorized sources, which does include ticket brokers and third-party resellers. Tickets purchased at unauthorized sources are often greatly inflated in price; they may be lost, counterfeit or invalid.

It is legal to resale event tickets in Columbus. You will find BalletMet event tickets on sale with ticket brokers, but these are not the primary sales point. Please keep in mind that if tickets are purchased from a ticket broker:

• We are not responsible for tickets purchased through unauthorized third parties.
• We cannot guarantee your tickets are valid, and you may not be guaranteed admittance into the theater.
• We cannot replace lost or stolen tickets.
• We cannot issue a refund if an event is cancelled.
• We cannot contact you with information about the event, cancellations or time changes.

Here are some tips to unintentionally avoid buying tickets from scalpers:

• Only purchase tickets from the BalletMet Box Office or the CAPA Ticket Center.
• If you see tickets that are more than $100 (before fees), you are probably buying from a third-party ticket broker and there is no guarantee these tickets are genuine.

If you cannot attend a performance, please inform the box office in advance of the missed show. Generally, tickets are nonrefundable but there are options:

• Credit the ticket amount to your account and apply it to a future performance
• Donate the price of your unused ticket back as a tax-deductible gift to BalletMet

Contact the box office at bo[email protected] or call us at 614-229-4848 for assistance.

If a show is cancelled for any reason, refunds will be processed automatically.

BalletMet performs at the Ohio Theatre, The Davidson Theatre (located inside the Vern Riffe Center) and sometimes at our own black box theatre located on our campus.

Click here to view parking information for each of our performance locations.

This is our most-asked question, and the answer is: You probably won’t feel out of place no matter what you wear. If you want to wear jeans, go for it—we promise you won’t be alone. If you want to dress up, feel free. Many others do, too. We don’t see as much formal-wear in the theater as we once did, though it wouldn’t be unusual to see a tux or a gown at a performance. Basically, anything goes.

Our ballets are classified in two main categories:

• Full-length: One ballet with intermissions, similar to a book with chapters
• Mixed-rep: Several unrelated shorter ballets with intermissions, similar to a collection of short stories

Each ballet will qualify as one of the following as well:

• Classical
  • To be classified as a Classical ballet there are five specific rules or ingredients that must be included. It must tell a story, have costumes and scenery and it must have music. The music is used as an element of storytelling in classical ballet. It also requires a “folk” or “character” dance and the female dancers must wear pointe shoes and tutus. To frame the dancing onstage, there is a Corps de Ballet. This is simply a group of dancers that serve as the background to soloists and principal dancers.
• Contemporary
  • There are no “rules” in contemporary ballet. Costumes will vary, as will footwear.

It varies. Some ballets follow a plot and others are just about patterns or movement. Ultimately, ballet is meant to be for you to experience. What you take from it, how you interpret it—there is no right or wrong way.

No, dancers express the story or meaning through the movement. In some story ballets, dancers will use pantomime (exaggerated movements) to help you understand what’s happening. If you see a ballet with pantomime, head to the lobby, where we’ll have more information and guidance. If you ever struggle to follow along, feel free to chat with a BalletMet staff member in the lobby who will happily answer any questions you have.

Visit that show’s page on our website. We always have some fun things you might like to know beforehand. We often share fun facts, character bios, behind-the-scenes videos, Spotify playlists and photos. We continually add more info and media as we get closer to our performances.

It means they are a professional, full-time dancer in our company, or group, of dancers, much like an NBA player to an NBA team. Our dancers all proudly live and work here in Columbus but hail from all over the world!

Because this is their full-time job, they come to work five days a week—just like any other job. Typically, they have class for two hours each morning to warm up, and then they go into rehearsals for three hours, with one hour for lunch, followed by another three hours of rehearsal.

We have both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and snacks in concessions at every performance, and yes, you may take them to your seats. Insider tip: You can pre-order your intermission drink before the show and then you won’t have to wait in line!

If you are wowed by something you just saw, please do applaud. At BalletMet, we love to hear clapping. It’s uplifting to those performing, as they can often feel your excitement and energy on stage. So applaud whenever you see fit! Note: Not every ballet company feels this way, so keep that in mind if you happen to be at another company’s performance.

Please review our COVID policies here.