Forty-two commissions throughout 36 seasons. That would be an impressive pace for a professional dance company. It’s really an astonishing achievement for a youth ballet, and the tradition continues this weekend with the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet’s premiere of “The Little Mermaid” at the Akron Civic Theatre.

Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, a Knight Arts grantee and located just north of Akron, is the fourth oldest youth ballet in the country. It’s the only one, according to Artistic Director Mia Klinger, to commission ballets for children, danced by children.

Klinger went back to a known quantity, Tom Gold, for “The Little Mermaid.” The former New York City Ballet soloist had earlier choreographed “Seasoning“ for the company. That work, inspired by the four seasons, will be reprised on the weekend’s program alongside the new full-length ballet.

For his third commission by Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, Gold took the Hans Christian Andersen story and used it to showcase the young dancers, ranging in age from age 8 to 18, costumed as eels, sharks, starfish, crabs, an angel fish and an entire school of fish.

From the time Klinger’s mother, Nan Klinger, founded her studio, “Nan Klinger Excellence in Dance,” she had the highest ambitions for her dancers. As she once told this interviewer, she never wanted a “Dolly Dingle’’ school (for dilettantes).  She started her own company after participating in a Ford Foundation project with the New York City Ballet, and she regularly headed to Saratoga Springs with her family in the summers to watch City Ballet perform.

Today, the company she built and that her daughter continues to grow has a reputation for being a place where you audition only if you’re really serious.

When ballet companies visiting Cleveland have recruited young dancers for their “Nutcrackers,” Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet has always been well represented. But it’s its own productions, like “The Little Mermaid“ in Akron this weekend, that give it the space to grow and develop, all on its own.

The Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet performs “The Little Mermaid” and “Seasoning” at the Akron Civic Theatre at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. March 10 and at 2:30 p.m. March 11. Purchase tickets at www.cvyb.org. Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, c/o Excellence In Dance Studio, 2315 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls; 330-928-6479.