On Friday, April 17th, Cal Performances will host a reception for UC Berkeley students attending the The Joffrey Ballet: Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Straying far from Shakespeare’s familiar path, the peerless Joffrey Ballet returns to Berkeley with Alexander Ekman’s daring and exuberant Midsummer Night’s Dream, a mind-bending trip to a surreal realm of unearthly delights. This “odd, wonderful, provocative and utterly original work” (Chicago Sun Times) begins during the traditional Scandinavian summer solstice festival—the dancers celebrating a day of revelry and romance under the maypole—but soon blossoms into a sensual, otherworldly fantasy. Featuring Swedish indie rock sensation Anna von Hausswolff and performed to a score by composer Mikael Karlsson, Midsummer is a bold fusion of classical and contemporary ballet that artfully blurs the line between the real and the imagined, and makes us wonder, is it all a dream?
For the 2025–26 season, Cal Performances has planned four post-performance receptions to celebrate the UC Berkeley students in our community and to provide a space for you to connect with other students who share a love for live performance! Free light refreshments will be served on the Zellerbach Hall Mezzanine for all UCB student ticket holders and their guests. For information about Cal Performances events, exclusive Cal student post-concert receptions, and discounted tickets, visit here.


