Tulsa Ballet is a professional American ballet company located in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. The artistic mission of Tulsa Ballet is "To preserve the tradition of classical ballet, promote the appreciation of contemporary dance, create works of superior and enduring quality, and educate through exemplary performances, training and outreach programs." The Company has toured throughout the United States and the world and has received consistent critical acclaim.

History

The company was founded in 1956 by musician Rosalie Talbot and married couple

Roman Jasinski Roman Jasinski (1907- 16 April 1991, aged 83-84) was born in Warsaw, Poland and died in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Roman, commonly known as Yasha within the dance community, was a Polish ballet dancer who discovered his love for dance at a very young age. H ...

and

Moscelyne Larkin Edna Moscelyne Larkin Jasinski (January 14, 1925 – April 25, 2012) was an American ballerina and one of the "Five Moons", Native American ballerinas from Oklahoma who gained international fame in the 20th century. After dancing with the ...

. Jasinski and Larkin were famous dancers who were internationally known for their style in the grand

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

tradition. Under their leadership, the troupe rose to the top echelon in the National Association for Regional Ballet in 1973 and became a fully professional company in 1978. After a successful engagement at the

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts was an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization located on the campus of Brooklyn College, founded in 1954. The Brooklyn Center presented multiple disciplinary arts performances and coord ...

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in 1983, a 1986 West Coast tour, and a return to BCBC in 1988 to perform

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...

's reconstructed

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, the company was hailed as one of Oklahoma's valuable arts organizations. In 1990 Roman Larkin Jasinski was appointed to succeed his parents as artistic director of the company. Unfortunately, the company did not thrive under his leadership and at the end of Jasinski's third season, the company began imploding as major conflicts among board members, dancers and the management came to a head. In November 1994, Jasinski tendered his resignation and left the company in chaos.

Artistic director

Renowned Italian dancer Marcello Angelini was appointed Artistic Director of the Tulsa Ballet in 1995. According to Dance Magazine, Angelini managed to solve the internal conflicts within the company and raise the artistic achievements of the company simultaneously. He unified the board members, working well with artistic director emerita Larkin, and establishing friendly relationships with his predecessors. "His gracious yet fierce tenacity, tough professional reputation, and superior negotiating skills soon earned him the nickname 'The Italian Tornado'." Dance Magazine credits Angelini with building a strong and highly versatile company that is able to tackle both classical and contemporary works by well-known choreographers. The Italian-born, Kiev Institute-trained director is said to expect dancers to achieve a technical level and artistic range comparable to that of the major companies he danced with (

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

, Cincinnati Ballet,

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). He is also credited with stating that "to grow a company, you have to stretch the dancer one way, then the other".

Productions

Tulsa ballet creates five productions annually in addition to The Nutcracker and reaches an audience of over 48,000 individuals every season. Under Angelini's leadership, the company has undertaken an ambitious repertory building program. For the past eleven years, Tulsa Ballet has added more than 60 new works to its repertory, many of which have been either American Premieres or World Premieres. Many of the world's best choreographers have worked with Tulsa Ballet including:

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Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-195 ...

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

, Paul Taylor,

Kurt Jooss Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979)Kurt Jooss
Internationales Biographisches Arch ...

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American banjo performer; may have been used by a number of performers * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), ...

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(ten works), Val Caniparoli who is its resident choreographer (with seven works and four world premieres),

Stanton Welch Stanton De Burgh Welch (born 1969) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. He is the artistic director of the Houston Ballet. Early life Welch was born in Melbourne to Marilyn Jones and Garth Welch, two prominent Australian dancers. Care ...

, Luciano Cannito, Young Soon Hue, Ma Cong, Lila York,

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...

and many others. In its first international tour in 2002, Tulsa Ballet was declared by the Portuguese national magazine Semanario “One of the best in the world.” The company has received two feature articles in Dance Magazine during the past seven years, has been featured in the New York Times, Pointe Magazine and Dance Europe among others. In March 2008, Tulsa Ballet was featured on the cover of Pointe magazine- a distinction given to only one ballet company each year. In April 2008, Tulsa Ballet completed an ambitious $17.3 million integrated campaign, which was celebrated at the opening of the brand new Studio K; an on-site, three hundred-seat performance space dedicated to the creation of new works.

Dance company

Dancers for the 2023-2024 season include:

Principals

* Jaimi Cullen * Jun Masuda * Nao Ota

Soloists

* Donghoon Lee * Aubin Le Marchand * Regina Montgomery

Demi-Soloists

* Aina Oka * Michael Paradiso * Yuki Toda

Corps de Ballet

* Jonathan Teague Applegate * Daniele Arrivabene * Jonathan Beloli * Julia Crosby * Adrian Cruz * Sumika Fujiwara * JooYoung Kwon * Carlos De Miguel * James Lachlan Murray * Fabian Raschitor * Edward Truelove * Haley Mae Wilson * Sabrina Yap

Apprentices

* Alison Cervantes * Talisson Farias * Maria Rita Rapisarda * Ian Stocker

Former dancers

Former dancers with the Tulsa Ballet include:

Former principals

* Karina Gonzalez (2005-2010) * Ryan Martin (2000-2001)

Former soloists

* Ashley Blade-Martin (1999-2011) * Michael Eaton (2005-2008) * Kate Oderkirk (2006-2011) * René Olivier (1999-2009)

Former demi-soloists

*Ashley Dangos (2002-2006) * Serena Chu (1999-2010) * Ke Da (2007-2010) * Jennifer DeWolfe (2000-2008) * Rupert Edwards (2004-2010) * Ricardo Graziano (2005-2010) * Maria Victoria Ignomiriello (2006-2007) * Mugen Kazama (2007-2010) * Megan Keough (2002-2010) * Deng Mi (2007-2009)

Former corps de ballet

* Florent Bouyat (2010-2011) * Kiri Chapman (2006-2008) * Leah Gallas (2006-2010) * Alex Harrison (2010-2011) * Ilan Kav (2007-2008) * Balázs Krajczár (2008-2009) * Gabriella Limatola (2007-2008) * Nathan McGinnis (2001-2011) * Elise Miller (2010-2011) * Masahiro Momose (2007-2009) * Mikhail Ovcharov (2007-2010) * Gwénaëlle Poline (2010-2011) * Daiva Preston (2007-2008) * Kirk Robison (2006-2007) * Susanna Salvi (2010-2011) * Avichai Scher (2007-2008) * Francesco Sorrentino (2007-2008) * Laura Suttle (2010-2011) * Joshua Trader (2002-2010) * Marit van der Wolde (2004-2010) * Iseda Yuki (2008-2009) * Zhang Kai (2008-2009)

References

External links

* {{authority control Ballet companies in the United States Dance in Oklahoma Non-profit organizations based in Oklahoma Arts organizations based in Oklahoma Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma Performing groups established in 1956 1956 establishments in Oklahoma