Oklahoma City Ballet

The Oklahoma City Ballet is a professional dance company and school located in Oklahoma City. The company began under the artistic direction of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov in the Science and Arts Foundation building on the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds,

Founded in 1972 by Ballet Russe dancers Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov, Oklahoma City Ballet has been the city’s professional ballet company for over 40 years. It is the resident dance company of the Civic Center Music Hall and As of 2014 had 30 dancers from around the world. Led by Artistic Director Robert Mills, the company produces 5 main stage productions per season in Oklahoma City and tours across Oklahoma and the surrounding states. It is the only ballet company of its size to regularly debut world premiere story ballets with original commissioned scores and also commissions new works from choreographers.

History

The company began in 1963 under the name Oklahoma City Civic Ballet, brought together by the foundation’s civic ballet committee and chief benefactors, Mr. and Mrs. John E. Kirkpatrick.

The Oklahoma City Ballet Society was incorporated in 1967 to support the company. That same year the Ballet joined the newly formed Arts Council of Oklahoma City and performed in the first Festival of the Arts, celebrating Oklahoma’s 60th year of statehood.

In 1970 the Board of Trustees formed a new group, Oklahoma City Metropolitan Ballet Society and with the generous support of Vernon Pellow, Sr. the company began as the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Ballet with Yvonne Chouteau staying on as founding artistic director. Ballerina and Oklahoma native Maria Tallchief worked together with Ms. Chouteau to audition dancers for the company.

Yvonne Chouteau was succeeded by New York City Ballet principal dancers Conrad and Joy Ludlow, who directed the Company from 1973–1979. The Ludlow’s founded the company’s affiliate school and joined Oklahoma City's Allied Arts organization. During this time the Company and School used studios on the campus of Oklahoma City University and performed at the Kirkpatrick Theater also on the OCU campus.

In 1979 American Ballet Theatre dancers Bojan Spassoff and Stephanie Wolf-Spassoff assumed direction of the Company. This was the beginning of the change from a civic company to a semi-professional company which was now performing three productions plus The Nutcracker in a season. In 1980 the company name was changed to Ballet Oklahoma and in the spring of 1981 the company moved into a newly renovated facility. The building was donated by Robert Hefner, III and a campaign to raise funds for renovations was chaired by Ann Simmons Alspaugh. Rand Elliott provided the architectural design and the renovations were completed by Bill McNatt Construction. The company is still housed in this facility.

In 1983 New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella joined the company as artistic director and directed the company for three seasons, bringing the work of George Balanchine into the repertory. In 1986 Dallas Ballet dancers Bryan Pitts and Laura Flagg-Pitts joined the company as artistic director and assistant to the director respectively.

In 2008 the Board of Trustees appointed dancer, choreographer and former Ballet Nouveau Colorado director Robert Mills the new artistic director. That same year the name of the company was changed to Oklahoma City Ballet. In 2009 the name of the affiliate school was changed to The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet.

Performance

Oklahoma City Ballet’s repertory includes works by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Anthony Tudor, Robert Mills, Helen Pickett, Amy Seiwert, Jessica Lang, Alan Hineline, Nicolo Fonte, Margo Sappington, Perrot, Coralli, Fokine, Petipa and Bournonville. Oklahoma City Ballet has also presented special dance attractions as part of its role in serving the community. In the past, it has sponsored performances by Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, the San Francisco Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

The Oklahoma City Ballet tours regionally and is the resident dance company of the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

School

The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet is Oklahoma's only American Ballet Theatre certified school and teaches the A.B.T National Training Curriculum. It's faculty have all trained within the curriculum and have passed examinations to become certified instructors of the curriculum. The school trains students who wish to become professional ballet dancers, and recreational students. Students trained in the school have been regularly accepted into summer sessions and advanced classes at the School of American Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and others. Former students have gone on to professional careers with the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, David Parsons Dance and American Ballet Theatre, and the Oklahoma City Ballet itself.

References

External links

Oklahoma City Ballet, official website

Dance companies in the United States

Ballet	Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet Des Moines BalletMet Ballet Quad Cities Ballet West Boston Ballet Carolina Ballet Cedar Lake Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet Complexions Dayton Ballet Eugene Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet Miami City Ballet Morphoses Mystic Ballet National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet San Francisco Ballet Suzanne Farrell Ballet Texas Ballet Theater Tulsa Ballet The Washington Ballet

Contemporary	Alvin Ailey Dayton Contemporary Dance Company Dominic Walsh Hubbard Street Lar Lubovitch Martha Graham Momix Paul Taylor The Philadelphia Dance Company Pilobolus Ririe-Woodbury sjDANCEco Urban Bush Women Whim W'Him

Other	Ice Theatre of New York The LXD The Rockettes

Ballet companies

Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet

Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China Philippine Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet

Europe	Ballet Cymru Les Ballets Persans Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kiev Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet (London) Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet

North America	American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Magnificat! Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Carolina Ballet Cleveland Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Los Angeles Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet San Francisco Ballet Tulsa Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Oceania	The Australian Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet

South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

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