Big, fat summer guide: Dance

BALLERINAS need vacations, too. (Incredibly well-deserved ones.) But as the big companies wind down their seasons, some innovators break out novel, refreshing programming to tide over us over during the beachgoing months.

The Tap-Ballet Project, June 6. Six tap dancers and four ballet dancers, backed by a jazz quartet, thunder out the collaborative work "Meet Us at the Corner," created by Elisabeth Holowchuk (from Suzanne Farrell Ballet) and Dorothy Wasserman (as seen in the movie "Tap"). Wasserman's signature works, "#holdontoyourhats" and "Shim Sham Variations," will also be presented, along with two pieces by Take It Away Dance. Sounds like a lot of joyous hoofing, by folks who really know how.

Caplan Recital Hall, 211 S. Broad St., 7:30 p.m., $20, 267-702-8709.

"Azure - Water Poems," June 8. The 55 dancers of Nava Nritya Dance Academy present choreography depicting the effects and importance of water, be it rivers, avatars, water deities or mermaids. The program features music from many countries and two distinct Indian dance styles: classical Bharatanatyam and contemporary Navanritya.

Gwynedd Mercy Academy Performing Arts Center, 1345 Sumneytown Pike, Ambler, 2 p.m., $20, 215-598-5154.

"Cinderella," June 8. Company dancers and students from Ballet 180/Studio 180 perform a condensed version of Prokofiev's glorious ballet, along with some contemporary work.

Stage One, 101 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford, 2 p.m., $20, 484-639-9571, 180dance.org.

"A 50th Finale," June 12-15. The Pennsylvania Ballet wraps its 50th season with a flourish, featuring Jerome Robbins' "In The Night" (to music by Chopin) and William Forsythe's "In the middle, somewhat elevated." Matthew Neenan, who has contributed a whole repertory to the company, will be represented by two pieces: the powerful "Penumbra" and a new world premiere.

Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 7:30 p.m. June 12-13, 2 and 8 p.m. June 14, 2 p.m. June 15, $25-$125, 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

"Sunset, 0639 Hours," July 9-13. BalletX co-artistic director Matthew Neenan seems to possess an inexhaustible imagination for brilliant choreography. Here, he's created a full-length world premiere with Pacific island-flavored music by New Zealand composer Rosie Langabeer. Neenan's ballet recounts Edwin Musick's daring 4,000-mile airmail delivery from New Zealand to Hawaii in 1938.

Wilma Theater, 266 S. Broad St., 8 p.m. July 9-12; 2 p.m. July 12 and 13; $35, 215-546-7824, balletx.org.