Tickets for the exciting triple-bill featuring original works are now on sale.
TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Ballet’s 2023|24 Season kicks off September 15th with Creations in Studio K, featuring two world premieres and the return of an audience favorite, from three highly in-demand choreographers. This year’s Creations in Studio K features bold themes, vibrant costumes, fresh new choreography, and of course the immense talent and grace of the dancers of Tulsa Ballet.
“It’s hard to believe this is the sixteenth year we present new works, created especially for our organization and for our audience, in the very special space we call Studio K,” says Artistic Director Marcello Angelini. “Those works are part of the DNA of our organization, as the true identity of a dance company resides in the works it creates. The mission of Studio K is to create works in Tulsa to be shared with the world.”
This year’s production of Creations in Studio K features three choreographers who’ve worked previously with Tulsa Ballet: Penny Saunders, Adam Hougland, and Yury Yanowsky. Saunders and Hougland will bring World Premieres to the Studio K stage, while Yanowsky will restage The Sun Sleeps, which debuted in 2019.
This is the Company’s second production with Penny Saunders. Saunders, originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, graduated from the Harid Conservatory in 1995, and began her professional career with The American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre. She went on to dance with Ballet Arizona, MOMIX Dance Theater, Cedar Lake Ensemble and in 2004 she joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2011, Saunders won the International Commissioning Project which launched her choreographic career, creating pieces for Hubbard Street, Cincinnati Ballet, Whim W’Him, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Parsons Dance, Oklahoma City Ballet, BalletX, Sacramento Ballet, The Royal New Zealand Ballet and Seattle Dance Collective among others. Tulsa Ballet previously worked with her on Sur Le Fil for Emerging Choreographers in 2018.
“Penny’s new work, Ballyhoo is both immensely entertaining and prominently provocative,” says Angelini. “Her starting point is a number of TV commercials from the middle of last century, commercials that on the surface look and sound very witty. But are they really funny? Or are they a window into the past, and a way to realize how much we have evolved, culturally, since the days of yesteryear?”
Like Saunders, Adam Hougland is no stranger to Tulsa Ballet, having worked on two other productions with the company. Hougland grew up in Dallas, Texas and studied visual arts and acting from an early age. At 14 he began his dance training at the Dallas Conservatory of Ballet and the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In 1999 he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from The Juilliard School and then went on to perform with The Limon Dance Company, Toronto Dance Theatre and The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Adam is the Principal Choreographer for The Louisville Ballet and has created nine critically acclaimed original works for the company including Petrouchka and Rite of Spring with special guest artist Wendy Whelan. He is also the Resident Choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet. Hougland’s Rite of Spring was performed by Tulsa Ballet in 2012 and 2013. And Hougland created the audience favorite, Cripple and the Starfish, which premiered in 2014 and returned in 2017.
“Adam’s new work, Only the Lonely, is a tribute to the music of Roy Orbison,” says Angelini. “He shared with me that he fell in love with his music as a young kid, and always wanted to put steps and moves to the complex sound structures, emotional melodies and poignant poetry of this iconic singer and songwriter. As to be expected from Adam, the result are some moving duets and some multifaceted group dances.”
Creations also sees the return of Yury Yanowsky to Tulsa, to restage his popular original work The Sun Sleeps with Tulsa Ballet II, the second company of Tulsa Ballet. Yanowsky serves as Resident Choreographer and Artistic Curator for Ballet Rhode Island, following a career as Principal Dancer with the Boston Ballet that spanned over two decades. He was the recipient of the first prize at the Prix de Lausanne and won the Silver medal at both the Varna International Ballet Competition and the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. Yanowsky is currently on faculty at Harvard University and Centro Coreographico, Las Palmas Spain, Summer Program. He has also taught at Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Brookline Ballet, and Colby College. Tulsa Ballet previously performed The Sun Sleeps in 2019, as well as Yanowsky’s Hindrance in 2020, At The End Of in 2021, and El Mudo, also in 2021.
Tickets for Creations in Studio K are on sale now, with prices as low as $35. To get tickets, visit Tulsaballet.org, email Tickets@tulsaballet.org, or call the box office at (918) 749-6006.
QUICK FACTS
Creations in Studio K, featuring:
Ballyhoo – World Premiere
Penny Saunders
Only the Lonely – World Premiere
Adam Hougland
The Sun Sleeps
Yury Yanowsky
WHEN AND WHERE:
Friday, September 15, 7:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Saturday, September 16, 2:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Saturday, September 16, 7:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Sunday, September 17, 2:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Thursday, September 21, 7:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Friday, September 22, 7:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Saturday, September 23, 2:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Saturday, September 23, 7:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
Sunday, September 24, 2:00 pm: Studio K | 1212 E 45th Pl, Tulsa, OK 74105
TICKETS: $35 – $70 | Email the Tulsa Ballet Box Office at tickets@tulsaballet.org, call 918.749.6006, or visit tulsaballet.org. Discounted student tickets available with valid ID.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: tickets@tulsaballet.org, tulsaballet.org, or 918.749.6006
Interview opportunities available:
Hilton Price | Marketing Manager
918.392.5949 | Hilton.Price@tulsaballet.org
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