TULSA, Okla. – August 14, 2015 – On Friday, August 21st at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 23rd at 3:00 p.m. Tulsa Ballet will celebrate the tenth year of its pre-professional ensemble Tulsa Ballet II with On Your Radar. The program features ten talented young dancers on their way to stardom and will be composed of three pieces: Passages, Angeli (Angels), and Slump.

Passages

Choreography by Paolo Mohovich
Music from Body Tools by Amador Castilla, Adagio from Piano Concerto No. 1 by Ludwig Van Beethoven

Paolo Mohovich says of his work Passages, “As the title indicates, this work is about the passages between different dimensions. The first dimension evokes precise movements with rhythmic percussion sounds and a uniformed electronic reality, like an army, where everyone has a place, but nobody can get out. The second dimension starts like a dream, moving the dancers to abandon their bodies and discover new ways of dialogue through devious encounters accompanied by the sublime notes of the piano and orchestra of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.”

Born in Bologna, Italy he started his dance studies in Turin with Sara Acquarone and then in Cannes at the Centre International de Danse Rosella Hightower with Josè Ferran, Edward Cook and Rosella Hightower. Paolo continued training at the Corso di perfezionamento Ater in Reggio Emilia, in the Cuballet of Havana and in London Danceworks. He worked as a dancer in the Ballet Victor Ullate in Madrid, in the Balletto di Toscana directed by Cristina Bozzolini, and the Zaragoza Ballet directed by Mauro Galindo. He also danced solo roles in choreographies by international choreographers Uwe Sholtz, William Forsythe, Rudi van Dantzig, Hans Van Manen, Mauro Bigonzetti, Nacho Duato, George Balanchine, and Leonide Massine, among others. Today, Paolo Mohovich is considered by the Italian dance press to be one of the most interesting in the field of formal contemporary dance. He has created over fifty ballets for his company Balletto dell’Esperia and for various others.

Angeli (Angels)

Choreography by Ma Cong
Music from Salve Regina by Alessandro Grandi; Salve Regina, Quel Passagier Sonio, Eja Mater, Vedro con mio diletto, Largo from Sonata for Cello and Basso Continuo by Antonio Vivaldi

Tulsa Ballet Resident Choreographer Ma Cong immediately reacted when he first heard the music for his piece Angeli. He remembers the moment passionately and describes the experience, “The inspiration for this work came from French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky’s beautiful, angelic voice. I was fascinated by a man who sings like a woman. His voice is truly stunning, especially his musicality and sensibility. After the first time I listened to his singing on CD, my mind was flying with many beautiful angels dancing while their wings created different shapes. So, I decided to create a work about the Angels using this special language of dance to protect and be a guiding influence for human beings.”

Ma Cong was named one of “25 to watch” by Dance Magazine and continues to be in demand worldwide for his choreographic creations. He is currently creating a new ballet for both the Tulsa Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. He recently developed a full-length ballet for the National Ballet of China but always enjoys working with the Tulsa Ballet after having created more than 10 separate works with Tulsa Ballet over the years. Through this special relationship Ma Cong says he is able to imagine which particular dancer is suitable for various parts of the pieces. “Every one of the performers are very hard workers, very positive and know my style.” Which he says makes continuing to work with the Tulsa Ballet a truly “stunning process.”

Slump

Choreography by Joshua L. Peugh
Music from Freylach #15, Ot Azoi, Freylach No. 8 by Klezmer Juice, Gopher by Yma Sumac, Yesterdays by Ella Fitzgerald

Choreographer Joshua L. Peugh describes Slump as, “a wild dance about courtship and the instinctual rituals of mating set to Klezmer, jazz, and mambo music. My hope is that I’ve created a fantasy the audience can get lost in; a fantasy that allows people to feel curiosity, joy, and humor. I want people to leave the theatre with questions, not answers.”

Joshua L. Peugh is the Founder and Artistic Director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Joshua moved to South Korea to join Universal Ballet Company. Since then, he has created work for festivals in Asia, Europe, and North America winning awards for his choreography in Korea, Japan, Canada, and the USA. He has been chosen as one of Dance Magazine’s 2015 “25 to Watch,” and was recently named “an important discovery” by The New York Times. Joshua has been commissioned to create for BODYTRAFFIC, BalletX, Company E, Ballet Memphis, and Whim W’Him among others.

About TBII

The 2015/16 Season will mark the second year Tulsa Ballet II performs a stand-alone mini-season, separate from the main company. Tulsa Ballet II was founded ten years ago in 2005 as a paid program designed to provide a bridge between the student phase of an aspiring classical ballet dancer and the professional career. TBII dancers receive a monthly stipend to help offset living expenses. Through an international audition search, the most talented and committed young men and women are invited to Tulsa to refine their artistic and technical skills by working on their own and alongside the professional company. This is accomplished through performances of repertoire ranging from pure classical ballets to the cutting edge of contemporary works. Tulsa Ballet II provides new dancers for the main company each year, and has promoted more than a dozen dancers since 2010. Of the TBII program Artistic Director Marcello Angelini says, “As it usually happens here at Tulsa Ballet, a small experiment has become a large, exciting and largely promising project. What was then a small experiment, our Pre-Professional Ensemble or TBII, is now one of the most stimulating undertakings of our organization”

Tulsa Ballet II offers its members multiple additional performance opportunities throughout the year, including their own mini-season with two shows, Backstage at the Ballet (Tulsa Ballet’s education outreach performances, which includes a partnership with Any Given Child-Tulsa), as well as providing support to Tulsa Ballet’s Main Company performances at the discretion of the Artistic Director Marcello Angelini. He says, “Our goal from the very beginning was to create a program that would afford young, talented dancers the tools to bridge the gap between the academic studies of ballet and the expectations of a professional career. The tools we gave them were the opportunity to supplement the ranks of the main company for the large scale works of our seasons, dancing side by side with the seasoned pros; the chance to dance their own performances, working with their own choreographers; and the opportunity to perform just as much as the main company, through their own season and educational programs. Ten years later, dozens of graduates from this program are dancing professionally in our company and in other professional groups across the country and the world. Mission accomplished!”

TULSA BALLET II
: ON YOUR RADAR
QUICK FACTS

Tickets for On Your Radar start at just $25. For tickets call (918) 749-6006 or visit www.tulsaballet.org. Ask about TBII mini-subscription and see two shows for just $40 – a savings of $15!

On Your Radar, a triple bill ballet featuring:

Passages (World Premiere)
Choreography by Paolo Mohovich, Music by Amador Castilla

Angeli (Angels) (Oklahoma Premiere)
Choreography by Ma Cong, Tulsa Ballet Resident Choreographer, Music by Alessandro Grandi and Antonio Vivaldi

Slump (Oklahoma Premiere)
Choreography by Joshua L. Peugh, Music by Klezmer Juice, Yma Sumac and Ella Fitzgerald

WHEN:
7:00 p.m. Friday, August 21, 2015
3:00 p.m. Sunday, August 23, 2015

WHERE:
The performance will take place at Studio K at the Tulsa Ballet Headquarters, 1212 E. 45th in Brookside Tulsa.

TICKETS:
Start at $25, call the Tulsa Ballet Box Office at 918.749.6006 or visit www.tulsaballet.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit Tulsa Ballet at www.tulsaballet.org.

Hi-Res images and interview opportunities available:
Ryan Allen, Community & Public Relations Manager
918.392.5949, ryan.allen@tulsaballet.org
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