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Mixing it up: BalletMet celebrates its 30th anniversary with 30(!) new works.

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Clearheaded leadership, a steady rise in quality, and balanced budgets have marked the history of BalletMet Columbus. So have occasional outbreaks of whimsy, like the company's first international tour--not to Canada or Europe--but to Egypt.

But was it whimsy or temporary insanity that led the troupe to open the current season, its 30th, with a program of 30 new works by 30 different choreographers?

"The initial idea for 30x30 was mine," says executive director Cheri Mitchell. "I was thinking about how a theater company sometimes puts on a new play in 24 hours and it evolved from there."

Artistic director Gerard Charles quickly seized on the concept and began contacting choreographers. "People are not afraid to take risks here," Charles says. "I think we owe it to choreographers to support them while they are still alive."

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A few were chosen from among the dancers, like Jimmy Orrante, winner of a 2005 Princess Grace Award. But many, like Nai-Ni Chen, Alex Ketley, James Kudelka, Harrison McEldowney, Michael Uthoff, and Stanton Welch, are established dance artists who traveled to Ohio especially for this occasion.

"It was guerilla choreography," says Ketley of San Francisco's The Foundry. "We...

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