Tulsa, OKLA. – April 2018 – After a successful season presenting fun, entertaining, and heartwarming dance productions such as Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Strictly Gershwin, and Cinderella, Tulsa Ballet balances out the season with three culturally stimulating and thought-provoking works meant to ignite conversation and action. Signature Series is a politically focused program which reminds us of the dangers in allowing history to repeat itself and inspires us to keep moving forward. Marcello Angelini says, “My job as artistic director is to bring those issues up for discussion, not to pass judgment about them. I hope this program will make our audience members talk, reflect and maybe even debate. If they do any of the above, we will have achieved our goal as a cultural institution at the service of our community!”
This year Tulsa Ballet presents three hugely compelling works of great substance and artistic value.
GLASS FIGURES by Ma Cong
Tulsa Ballet will open the program with Resident Choreographer Ma Cong’s latest creation Glass Figures. The work had its world premiere at The Joyce Theater in New York City in March. Critics hailed it as “The strongest piece of the night… Glass Figures gave the dancers the opportunity to show off their dynamic power and emotional capability” (The Village Voice). Angelini says, “While non-narrative in concept, Glass Figures will have you at the edge of your seat both physically and emotionally.”
RASSEMBLEMENT by Nacho Duato
Rassemblement is one of the most powerful works by Nacho Duato, one of most revered dance makers of the past quarter century. Nacho created Rassemblement (meaning “Gathering”) in 1990 for the Cullberg Ballet in Sweden. The work is inspired by and set to the songs of Haitian artist Toto Bissainthe and is a moving look at the “liberating powers of music and dance” as related to human rights issues.
THE GREEN TABLE by Kurt Jooss
The Green Table is a twentieth century masterpiece that has been performed since its creation in 1932. The work was created by one of the fathers of European Tanzetheater (dance theater), Kurt Jooss, just a year before Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in Germany. This work is a dance in eight scenes depicting the repeating nature of war, and the consequences of conflicts. The Green Table starts with diplomats wearing masks, surely an allusion to the fact that it’s hard to see the real face of a politician, arguing about the interests of their countries. At the end of the meeting they fire their guns in the air, symbolizing the beginning of war. The audience follows the figure of Death throughout the next six scenes, as he goes from refugee camps to the battlefield, to partisan camps to less than legitimate establishments, always taking people with him. The ballet closes just as it started, with the same politicians around the same table. Angelini says, “Did Mr. Jooss mean for this last scene to be the end of the conflict or the beginning of the next one? This is for you to decide.”
TULSA BALLET Signature Series
QUICK FACTS
Tickets for Signature Series start at just $20. For tickets call (918) 749-6006 or visit www.tulsaballet.org.
WHAT:
Signature Series, a triple bill performance featuring three of Artistic Director Marcello Angelini’s favorite works including:
Glass Figures by Ma Cong
Rassemblement by Nacho Duato
The Green Table by Kurt Jooss
WHEN:
8:00pm, Thursday, May 3, 2018
8:00pm, Friday, May 4, 2018
3:00pm, Saturday, May 5, 2018
8:00pm, Saturday, May 5, 2018
3:00pm, Sunday, May 6, 2018
8:00pm, Sunday, May 6, 2018
WHERE:
The performance will take place at Lorton Performance Center on The University of Tulsa Campus, 550 S. Gary Pl, Tulsa, OK.
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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