George Verdak

George C. Verdak (1923 – September 15, 1993) He spent time in Minneapolis teaching dance and performing with the Minneapolis Symphony. He choreographed for the St. Paul Civic Opera Company before joining the faculty at Butler University in 1959. He became the chairman of the dance department at Butler University and the director of the Butler Ballet Company. During Verdak's 25 years at Butler Ballet, he directed student performances and taught dance history and choreography. Butler University awarded him an honorary doctorate. During his time at IBT, he applied his 50 years of dance experience to create more than 100 ballets.

In the 1960s, he choreographed performances at Butler University, including a performance of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. He directed the university ballet's performance at Malabar High School in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1968. The program included an excerpt from Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella known as "Pergolesiana", an original dance called Three Todays, and the third act from the ballet Raymonda.

In the 1970s he choreographed and designed productions for the annual Romantic Music Festival at Butler University, including three ballet productions in 1970 and a performance of Raymonda in 1973. In 1977, he directed a performance for the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre of selections from The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty at McHale Auditorium in Logansport, Indiana.

Death and legacy Verdak died on September 15, 1993, at the age of age 70. Verdak's own set work has been used as recently as 2018, and his choreography as recently as 2017.