Companies
Oklahoma Festival Ballet
The Oklahoma Festival Ballet is the resident ballet company of the University of Oklahoma. The company maintains a repertoire of over 33 short ballets and numerous full-length ballets in styles ranging from classical to romantic, abstract to contemporary and dramatic to comedic. Such choreographers as Massine, Balanchine, Terekhov, Fokine, Stevenson and Joffrey are represented in the repertoire.
The Oklahoma Festival Ballet is a company of 40 dancers. The company is efficiently organized for touring and boasts an impressive national and international touring schedule, which has included performances in Taiwan, Mexico, Ecuador, Austria and France.
Oklahoma Festival Ballet is proud of its graduates, who have gone on to perform with companies such as the Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Louisville Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Nouveau, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Atlanta Ballet, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre and Ballet Ireland.
Guest artists from companies such as Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Nashville Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Ballet Arizona frequently perform and work with the Oklahoma Festival Ballet. Recent guests include Kathleen Tracey and Zippora Karz representing the Balanchine Trust; Bruce Wells of Pacific Northwest Ballet Academy; Virginia Johnson, former ballerina of Dance Theatre of Harlem and current editor of Pointe magazine; Mary Munro; noted international critic and historian, Camille Hardy; Dennis Poole and Clara Cravey, former Houston Ballet Academy Principal.
Selected Repertoire
| Afternoon of a Faun (L’après Midi D’un Faune) Apassionata Balletudes Les Buffons Carmina Burana Concerto Barocco Coppelia Le Corsaire Pas De Deux The Firebird The Four Moons Graduation Ball |
A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Nutcracker Paquita Romeo and Juliet Pas de Deux Serenade Sleeping Beauty, Act III Stars and Stripes Pas De Deux Swan Lake, Act II Valse Fantaisie Verdi Divertimento Weill Songs |
Contemporary Dance Oklahoma
Contemporary Dance Oklahoma, founded as Modern Repertory Dance Theatre and directed until 1998 by Ko Yukihiro, is the resident modern dance company of the University of Oklahoma. An ensemble of 20 dancers, CDO offers the spectator an array of modern dance, dramatic and abstract works. For over 20 years, CDO has performed in OU’s Rupel Jones Theatre and frequently engages in regional, national and international tours (including a tour of five major cities in Japan and two tours of Paraguay). Appearances at regional festivals and conferences have led to invitations to perform at American College Dance Festival galas and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Dancers from CDO have gone on to perform with the Alvin Ailey Dance Ensemble, Martha Graham Dance Ensemble, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Pearl Lang Dance Theatre and Jennifer Muller/The Works. Earl Mosley, international choreographer from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Stuart Hodes and George White Jr. are among those who have contributed to the CDO repertoire.
Denise Vale directed the company from 1998 to 2003. Austin Hartel, associate director since 2001, became director in 2003.
Selected Repertoire
| Autumn Shadows Beggar’s Dance Double Knots Dreaming of Night First Chapter, Second Paragraph For Love Hiroshima Epitaph Me My Mo Mu Mu Miles to Go |
Night Spell Offering Song On the Wings of Joy Primitive Moon Seasons Of Japan Solo Flight Spirit Steps in the Street When Angels Fall |