Tulsa Ballet Launches Season with Swan Lake
SWAN LAKE: Tulsa Ballet opens its season Sept. 24-26 with the world’s most popular ballet, Swan Lake.
With an exciting lineup of performances designed to appeal to classical and contemporary dance lovers alike, Tulsa Ballet launches its 54th season on Sept. 24 with the world’s most popular ballet, Swan Lake. This enchanting fairy tale of everlasting love embodies the spirit of classical perfection and is overflowing with lyrical romance and dramatic grandeur.
Tulsa Ballet’s production features choreography by Marcello Angelini after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Guest artist Erina Takahashi, senior principal dancer with the English National Ballet, will alternate with Tulsa Ballet’s Soo Youn Cho in the lead roles of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake. Takahashi has been described by The Daily Telegraph as one who “. . . dances with beautiful butterfly clarity.”
“Ms. Takahashi will thrill Tulsa with her artistic elegance and command of this role,” says Tulsa Ballet Artistic Director Marcello Angelini. This will be the debut of Ms. Cho in the role of Odette/Odille. “Following a year off due to a massive knee injury, and a year to reclaim her full potential, we expect her to dazzle the audience with her lyricism and sensitivity to the role,” adds Angelini. Alfonso Martin and Wang Yi will alternate in the roles of Siegfried, the handsome prince lost in his love for the White Swan.
Following in October is “Classical Relativity,” an evening of three distinct works that combine classical ballet with a modern flair. The triple bill includes George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations with music by Tchaikovsky, arguably the most brilliant and exciting work from the unequaled master of the 20th century; There, Below by James Kudelka, the foremost Canadian choreographer of our times, with music by Ralph Vaughn Williams; and Amadè, a dance originally created for Tulsa Ballet in 2009 by Massimiliano Volpini, an up and coming Italian chorographer, that features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The fourth annual, one-night-only “Winter Celebration” will feature a full evening of dance and camaraderie performed at Tulsa Ballet’s resident theater, Studio K, on December 2, 2010. All patrons enjoy a pre-performance reception followed by an array of short pieces, from hilariously funny to stunning beautiful, especially selected by Tulsa Ballet dancers.
Tulsa’s most popular holiday tradition returns in December with The Nutcracker. Featuring the full Tulsa Ballet company, music by Tchaikovsky and more than 120 students from the greater Tulsa area, this production combines the stunning visuals of a Broadway show with the heartwarming story of a fairytale Christmas, transforming the Tulsa Performing Arts Center into a land of beauty, fantasy and wonder.
Side-splitting comedy portrayed through dance will take the stage in February 2011 with the Oklahoma Premiere of Taming of the Shrew, one of the masterpieces of the 20th century, choreographed by John Cranko and based on the play by William Shakespeare. Performed by most of the major ballet companies throughout the world, Tulsa Ballet is pleased to bring this prestigious production to Oklahoma for the first time since its debut in 1969.
Spring 2011 brings “Exceptional Synergy” to the Performing Arts Center for a high energy evening of contemporary dance by internationally acclaimed choreographers. It includes the Oklahoma Premiere of Push Comes to Shove by the Tony Award winning choreographer of Movin’ Out, Twyla Tharp, as well as the Oklahoma Premiere of Slice to Sharp by Jorma Elo, a dance maker who is rewriting the history of dance worldwide with his electrifying works. The evening would not be complete without the return engagement of Elite Syncopations by the master of British dance, Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
The season closes in May with the fourth annual “Creations in Studio K” to be held at Tulsa Ballet’s resident theater. Designed as a way to create new works in Tulsa and share them with the world, this series boasts debuts of three new pieces created especially for Tulsa Ballet by internationally recognized choreographers and performed in the intimate setting of Studio K, located in the Tulsa Ballet complex in the heart of Brookside.
Tulsa Ballet Artistic Director, Marcello Angelini, says, “I am both proud and humbled by the support our community has devoted to Tulsa Ballet. It is because of this support that we are able, once again, to bring to Tulsa some of the best works by the best dance makers in the world.”
Season tickets begin at $65 and are now available by visiting the Tulsa Ballet Box Office, 1212 E. 45th Place South or by calling (918) 749-6407. To order online, visit www.tulsaballet.org. The Tulsa Ballet 2010-2011 season is sponsored in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Updated 09-13-2010
READER COMMENTS
