Ethan Stiefel, world-renowned ballet dancer and star of the film Center Stage, and his professional ensemble Stiefel & Stars, perform on Island in their annual one-night-only benefit for Vineyard Arts Project at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center.

The show will be held on Wednesday, August 27, at 6 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center at the high school. Tickets are available at $35, $65, $95 and $125 and may be purchased online at vineyardartsproject.org or by calling 508-413-2104.

This performance marks the fifth anniversary of Stiefel & Stars on Martha’s Vineyard.

In honor of the milestone, the program will feature pieces never before been seen on Martha’s Vineyard.

The 2008 Stiefel & Stars program will feature performances by principal dancers from three of the world’s greatest ballet companies — Marcelo Gomes, Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel of American Ballet Theatre; Wendy Whelan of New York City Ballet; and Johan Kobborg and Roberta Marquez of The Royal Ballet.

The program will feature excerpts from Marius Petipa’s classics Le Corsaire, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty and from Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. Bob Fosse’s thrilling Percussion IV, Twyla Tharp’s mesmerizing Sinatra Suite, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Liturgy will complete the program.

The work of three Tony Award winners will be seen on the 2008 Stiefel & Stars program — Bob Fosse (Dancin’, 1978), Kenneth MacMillan (Carousel, 1994), and Twyla Tharp (Movin’ Out, 2003). Twyla Tharp and Christopher Wheeldon are two of the most active and widely praised choreographers on the scene today. Ms. Tharp’s Broadway hit, Movin’ Out is still on the road, and she did a world premiere for American Ballet Theatre, Rabbit and Rogue, this spring. Christopher Wheeldon is an internationally-acclaimed choreographer and has been hailed as the successor to ballet legends George Balanchine and Sir Frederick Ashton. Mr. Wheeldon’s piece on the program, Liturgy, was created on Wendy Whelan, who is often called the “muse of Christopher Wheeldon.”

Stiefel & Stars rehearses and resides once again at the Vineyard Arts Project compound in downtown Edgartown. Vineyard Arts Project’ state-of-the-art studio and housing compound allow the artists to work in a beautiful environment during their stay on the Vineyard.

The compound is comprised of two residences, as well as three 2,000 square foot training studios, each equipped with American Harlequin flooring, 14 foot high ceilings, grand pianos and a Pilates workout studio.