Category: News

Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education

Job Title: Creative Movement, Contemporary Dance and Outreach Program Instructor

Reports to: Director of Education

Status: Full-time position

General Description

Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education is actively seeking a dynamic and talented Creative Movement and Contemporary Dance Instructor to join its full time faculty beginning June 1, 2020.

The candidate will work as an integral member of the TBCDE faculty to support the artistic vision and strategic plan of Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Inc.  In consultation with the Director of Education, the successful candidate will develop and implement a creative movement and contemporary dance program for ages 3 years and up, and will collaborate with a music specialist to deliver TBCDE’s music and dance Outreach Programs. They will support the administrative needs of the Outreach Program, choreograph for performances and may be asked to support recruitment and marketing initiatives. This is an excellent opportunity for a knowledgeable teacher who is looking to be part of a talented and committed team and who thrives in a vibrant atmosphere dedicated to excellence and growth.

 

Essential Functions and Major Responsibilities

The teacher will:

• Motivate and inspire students by teaching with knowledge, positive energy and compassion.
• Be responsible for the effective delivery of children’s creative movement (3-5 years) and contemporary dance classes (6 years and older).
• Work with other full and part-time faculty to ensure cohesive delivery of the creative movement programs.
• Partner and collaborate with a music specialist to deliver TBCDE’s dynamic Outreach Programs in public and private schools in Tulsa, Broken Arrow and surrounding areas.
• Support the administrative needs of the Outreach Programs.
• Assist in developing relationships to grow TBCDE’s programs.
• Choreograph for TBCDE performances and rehearse students as necessary.
• Prepare student placement and evaluations as required.
• Assist with the coordination of projects and events including auditions and schedules and ensure that deadlines are met.
• Support the positive development of TBCDE through consistent development and implementation of policies and procedures.
• Participate in marketing and recruitment initiatives.
• Attend planning meetings as required.
• Participate in long-term planning in cooperation with the Director of Education, School Administrators and other members of the Faculty.
• Build and maintain positive and productive relationships with students, parents, staff and community partners through effective and honest communication.

 

Education and Experience

The position requires:

• In-depth knowledge of creative movement and contemporary dance
• Certification from a recognized teacher training program or equivalent
• 3-5 years of experience teaching children and youth in a variety of settings
• Ability to choreograph for children/dancers of varying ages and abilities
• Professional dance experience is considered an asset but not necessary
• Knowledge of classical ballet is considered an asset

 

• HOW TO APPLY: Please submit resume and cover letter to Arlene Minkhorst, Director of Education @ minkhorst@tulsaballet.org. No phone calls please.

 

Tulsa Ballet is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

 

Tulsa Ballet closes one of its most successful seasons with the announcement that it has achieved its $25 million Defining the Future Campaign – the largest fundraising initiative in the history of the company.

The integrated campaign exceeded its goal by raising a total of $25.2 million, thanks to a $450,000 major gift from the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation and trustees Kirk Clausing and Max Vowel.

Funds raised from the campaign are being used to:

• Broaden the reach of the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education.
• Build and create new productions.
• Increase the Tulsa Ballet endowment to provide for the long‐term sustainability of the organization.

The campaign, first chaired by Kayla Vaughn, began in 2015. Billie Barnett assumed the chair role in 2017. Hannah Robson served as Honorary Chair.

“We are especially grateful for the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation’s gift, which has helped us reach the finish line for this campaign,” says Scott Black, Tulsa Ballet’s Managing Director. “As a World War II veteran, Lou Miller became an entrepreneur establishing L&M Office Furniture as a successful Tulsa-owned business and finding continued success through real estate investments. I am sure that Mr. Miller would be pleased that his legacy of philanthropy is being carried out by the trustees of his foundation.”

Marcello Angelini, Tulsa Ballet’s Artistic Director, says, “The Defining the Future Campaign was developed to substantiate the relevance of dance in our community for decades to come, through audience growth and education, and the long-term artistic and financial health of Tulsa Ballet. We are thankful to every individual who contributed to this campaign, and for their investment in the future of the arts, culture and quality of life of our community.”

About Defining the Future – An Integrated Campaign for Tulsa Ballet

Completion of Center for Dance Education in Broken Arrow
The Tulsa Ballet Defining the Future Campaign consists of multiple funding areas, the first being capital funds to build The Hardesty Center for Dance Education in Broken Arrow, the result of a generous gift of 13.72 acres from the Hardesty Family Foundation and its founders, Roger and Donna Hardesty.

This facility, designed by Bob Schaefer of Selser Schaefer Architects, opened in 2016 as part of Tulsa Ballet’s 60^th anniversary season to support the growing needs for ballet training, education and outreach programs.

The school houses the Ann and Jack Graves Studios and the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation Performance Studio, a state-of-the-art, in-house theater with a seating capacity of 160. Additional funding came from the JE and LE Mabee Foundation in the form of a challenge grant, and the Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation, along with multiple individuals, corporations and foundations.

Creation of New Productions
Mollie Williford provided the lead gift to support capital funds for new productions, including this past April’s world premiere of Tchaikovsky: The Man Behind the Music by resident choreographer Ma Cong and the world premiere of Dorothy and the Prince of Oz by Edwaard Liang in collaboration with BalletMet of Columbus, Ohio, that debuted in 2016.

Additional capital funds from the HA and Mary K Chapman Charitable Foundations and the Suzanne and Jim Kneale Family Foundation have been raised to support an all-new production of The Nutcracker to premiere in a future season.

Endowment Growth

Gifts to the Tulsa Ballet endowment have been established to support essential programs in perpetuity.

Lead gifts have been committed by:

• Bonnie Klein, who has established the Audience Favorite Endowment Fund, providing support for productions with mass audience appeal.
• Kathy and Bob West World Premiere Endowment Fund, providing support for productions that foster the creation of new works.
• Margery Mayo Bird Classical Masterpiece Endowment Fund, providing support for productions that preserve the tradition of classical ballet.
• Judith and Jean Pape Adams Artistic Excellence Endowment Fund, providing support for Tulsa Ballet’s commitment to uncompromising artistic quality.
• Sanford and Irene Burnstein Arts Access Endowment Fund, providing access to ballet performances for at-risk youth
• Hannah and Joe Robson Endowment Fund for general support.

Sustaining the level of excellence for annual operations during the campaign has been critical to Tulsa Ballet’s success. Major campaign gifts from George Kaiser Family Foundation, the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, and The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation are just a few who have made increased gifts to support Tulsa Ballet’s annual performances and educational outreach programs.

Major gifts and donors
Providing a combined $21 million in major gift commitments for Defining the Future are: The Hardesty Family Foundation; E. Ann Graves; Margery Mayo Bird Foundation; Rita Willis Trust; George Kaiser Family Foundation; Bonnie Klein; The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation; H.A. & Mary K. Chapman Charitable Foundations; Mollie Williford; The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation; Judith and Jean Pape Adams Charitable Foundation; Kathy and Bob West; Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation; Lou and Connie Miller Charitable Foundation; Suzanne and Jim Kneale Family Foundation; Janet Selser and Bob Schaefer/Selser Schaefer Architects; Bobbye Ruth and Dewitt L. Potter; and Hannah and Joe Robson.

Major gift donors pledging a combined $2.4 million in contributions include: Billie and Howard Barnett and the Barnett Family Foundation; The Albert and Hete Barthelmes Foundation; SemGroup; Monica Williford and Steve Bayles; Kayla and Scott Vaughn; Katrine and Ramez Hakim; The Maurice DeVinna Charitable Trust; The Mervin Bovaird Foundation; Meinig Family Foundation; Oxley Foundation; Sanford and Irene Burnstein Foundation; Wendy and Gentner Drummond/Blue Sky Bank; Jill and Robert Thomas; Susan and Bill Thomas; Jo and Jack Babbitt; KKT Architects; GlobalHealth; David O. Hogan; IBC Bank; Jackie Kouri and Gary Paxton; Betty and Steve Pirnat; Susan Parrott; Patsy Savage; Will Smith; Charles and Marion Weber Foundation; and Karen Young.

About Tulsa Ballet
Since 1956, Tulsa Ballet has evolved from a small regional ballet company to a nationally and internationally recognized arts organization. For 24 years, the organization has thrived under the leadership of Artistic Director Marcello Angelini.

Today, Tulsa Ballet consistently attracts the finest choreographers in the world, employs around 30 professional dancers from around the world, 25 full‐time artistic and administrative staff members and a pre‐professional ensemble composed of 12 American and international young dancers, all graduates from the top ballet academies of the world.

This year, Tulsa Ballet fulfilled its role as an Oklahoma cultural ambassador by representing the city and state in Italy, Switzerland and Spain on the company’s first three-country tour.

Performing to sold out crowds in six of the top venues, Tulsa Ballet received standing ovations and was called by the European press, “without a doubt, within the Top Ten American ballet companies,” and “one that, for decades continues to enrich the international landscape of our field” and “a company made up of 30 dancers from 14 countries, dancers who are absolutely extraordinary for their technique and versatility … Tulsa Ballet’s work was truly exceptional.”

The recently completed season also saw some of the company’s greatest successes to date, including the highest subscription sales ever, the highest selling run of The Nutcracker in the history of Tulsa Ballet, the largest enrollment in the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education, and the highest grossing special event, Icons & Idols 2019, in the history of Tulsa Ballet.

View the Campaign Celebration book here.

A translated review in Spettacoli by Silvia Allegri

Synchrony, polished technique and great physical expressiveness were welcomed with enthusiasm and warmth from the audience.  Tulsa Ballet’s Masters of Dance, the fifth engagement in the Teatro Ristori’s dance season, conquers the audience with a program of noticeable depth, where dance transforms in an art-form capable of accompanying the audience member in an introspective journey, thanks to pieces of choreography that have achieved legendary status.

What most surprised us was the continuous, palpable emotional escalation, partly due to the change in the order of the program that allowed Shibuya Blues by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. This piece is an abstract work of great impact inspired by the Tokyo intersection that bares the same name, known for being the busiest in the world.

There, during the peak hours of the day, thousands of people move from one side of the intersection to the other, and on stage we relive the frenetic pace through the classical virtuosity of the piece melted together with contemporary movements, all with an incessant and pressing pace that unlashes an energy that engages the audience.

And then we are presented with the lightness and innocence of Who Cares?, by George Balanchine, a work that blends the refined music of Gershwin, composed between 1924 and 1931, to the beauty of neoclassical solos and duets, where the smart use of lighting effects beautifully highlights the female dancers and their pastel costumes against the dark skyline of the backdrop.

To close the program with its hypnotic circular structure was Kurt Jooss’ The Green Table, ‘a dance macabre in eight scenes’ as the subtitle express:  diplomats wearing masks altercate around a green table and shoot their guns in the air to symbolize the declaration of war, which segues into dramatic sections that illustrate the conflict and its inherent stupidity with the presence of Death, depicted like a skeleton moving like a robot, perennially thirsty for victims.

Tulsa Ballet confirms itself, without a doubt, within the Top Ten American ballet companies, one that, for decades continues to enrich the international landscape of our field. To make this engagement even more precious was the presence of Marcello Angelini at the gathering, organized Saturday by the Associazione Evgenij Polyakov- dancer, choreographer, ballet master- in collaboration with the Liceo Coreutico “Michelangelo Buonarroti” and Immagine Danza Asd, in Verona.  Angelini, who has lead the organization for the past 24 years, talked about his experience working with Maestro Polyakov, as his pupil, as a dancer and as a choreographer.