OCU DANCERS TAKE THE STAGE
FOR CHRISTMAS

Photo courtesy of Oklahoma City University

Nearly 150 Oklahoma City University dancers will jump into Christmas with “Home for the Holidays” from Dec. 5 to 8 at OCU’s Kirkpatrick Auditorium. The American Spirit Dance Company, under the direction of Jo Rowan, will perform a sensational array of new dances intertwined with perennial audience favorites for the show, which is as lavish and fun-filled as anything on Broadway. The show is recommended for ages 6 and up. 

Show times are 8 p.m. Dec. 5 and 6, 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 7 and 2 p.m. Dec. 8. Tickets are $28.15 and can be purchased by calling (405) 208-5227 or visiting www.okcu.edu/tickets.

From the press release 

RACE DANCE COMPANY'S
HIP HOP NUTCRACKER
FLIPS INTO DECEMBER

Race Dance Company and Local High Schools to Perform

Hip Hop Nutcracker at Bishop McGuinness High School

Tickets available at racedance.com or before showtime on

 Friday, December 6th or Saturday, December 7^th at 7:30pm

Dancers with Race Dance Company have joined forces with local Oklahoma City Public High School dance programs, for the return of Oklahoma City's Hip Hop Nutcracker performance on December 6 and 7 at Bishop McGuinness High School. The performance is similar to the classic Nutcracker but with even more impressive twists & flips. The Hip Hop Nutcracker (HNN) has updated its original music by Bennix, a new story line, and even more styles of Hip Hop. This performance will be centered in an urban setting, with real world issues. 

 

The Hip Hop Nutcracker is an inspiring story about a young man who seeks to find a missing piece in his life, but discovers it already exists within himself.  The story is about perseverance, family and the holiday spirit. The audience once again joins Carlos on his journey to follow his heart and find himself.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker returns this Christmas season, in what continues to be a new family tradition for the Oklahoma City community.

Dancers of Race Dance mentor students from dance programs at Millwood High School, Capitol Hill High School, Northwest Classen High School, Putnam City West, U.S. Grant, and Putnam City North High School to prepare for this performance.

About Race Dance Company

Race Dance was created by Hui Cha Poos in 2008. Over the years, Race Dance Company has produced and participated in over 50 performances throughout the city. In 2010, the company was selected as one of the Gazette’s top 5 performance companies in Oklahoma.  In 2011, they received the Great Inspirations Award from Creative Oklahoma. Race is the abbreviation for Radical Application of Creative Energy and is Oklahoma’s first professional Jazz/Hip Hop/Contemporary Company.  In 2011, Race became an official 501(c) (3) Non-Profit Organization.  In the 2012-2013 season, Race performed for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Dance United Benefit Show, Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival, OKC or Oklahoma City Arts Festival, Arts Moves, World Neighbors Association, Dancers Against Cancer, Oklahoma Gazette Halloween Parade, Creativity Forum, Multicultural Festival, Better Block OKC, Choctaw Extreme Leadership Summit, as well as its original shows Circle, E-race, Amazing Race, Race-Ed, Hip Hop Nutcracker, Racey and Raceless.                                   

Director and Producer of HHN: Hui Cha Poos

Music for HHN:  Original compositions by Bennix of The Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma

Race Dancers:  Allison High, Christine Soileau, Sheri Hayden, Ashley Brown, Melissa Sluice, Amanda Williams, Emma Clarke, Amanda Beard, Chanel Roland, Tasha Hinex, Sarah Henry, Katelyn Perkins, Audrey Johnston

Men of Race: Dominick Brown, Giangelo Peterson, Shandrick Griffin, James Mayfield, Stephen Wafer, Christopher Lester, Asarra Smith, Jeremiah Walton, Zachary Aman, Bryan Beaver, Bg Graves, Christopher Shepard

Jr. Race:  Abbigail Baird, Amity Bevard, Lacy Allstat, Charee Haron, Allie Peterson, Danielle Nickell, Jasmine Fuentes, Monica Blackwell, Cara Clear, Stormi Luney, Alex Jury, Stephanie Dudley, Shelby Bailey, Jesus Martinez, Ana Dominguez, Josie Hodges, Sophie Thiebaut, Madison Crider, Torre Randel, Raven Luehring, Chloe Stevenson, Nancy Rance, Abbigail Baird, Samantha Weaver, Genna Ille, Taylor Foster, Tristan Brewer, Nathaniel Tylor, Billy Fallon

Hartel Dance Group - What's Love Got to Do with It?

HARTEL DANCE GROUP
PRESENTS "WHAT'S LOVE
GOT TO DO WITH IT?"
8TH AND 9TH

Hartel Dance Group presents its 2013 Fall Season "What's Love Got To Do With It?" this weekend at Oklahoma Contemporary. With the collaboration of choreographer Chris Castleberry, composer Aaron Robinson, actress Tonia Sina and poet Skip Largent, Hartel will bring His vision for “What’s love got to do with it?” to life,  weaving together many facets of connections and rituals that define our lives. Journeying through life, we inherently create relationships—some lasting, some passing, and some that impact us in the most transformative of ways. We have more means to access human connection than any generation past. Yet for some reason, there remains a cold undercurrent of isolation, loneliness, and separation that bridles many of our experiences—whether we are aware of it or not. All humanity craves acceptance and love, but Hartel poses the well-known question, “What’s love got to do with it?” Curtain is 8 p.m. at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Foundation, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.  Tickets are $20 at the door, or $15 in advance online at www.harteldancegroup.org/new , or by calling 405.919.9331.

MELODY OF CHINA BRINGS
TRADITIONAL AND NEW
CHINESE MUSIC TO 
METRO LIBRARIES

Image provided

  Hong Wang, who is the Artistic Director of the musical ensemble Melody of China, thinks that young people in the west have little knowledge of China beyond egg rolls, Jackie Chan and Kung Fu Panda and his goal is to expand their horizons.

Helping him with that goal, the Metropolitan Library System is sponsoring a series of concerts by Melody of China.  The ten concerts will be presented at ten MLS locations November 3-8.

Melody of China began in the San Francisco Bay area in 1993 to promote Chinese classical, folk and contemporary music, and also to entertain through a blend of the ancient musical tradition of China and the youthful, multi-colored culture of contemporary America.

“You can use words to express thoughts,” Hong Wang said, “but through music, I can do the same thing. Tradition is the most useful source for creative music. The things we do now are based on tradition. ... If we don’t have a past, we don’t have a future.”

Melody of China’s performances at MLS are co-sponsored by Friends of the Metropolitan Library System, Oklahoma Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Schedule of Melody of China presentations:

Sunday, November 3 at 2pm = Downtown Library, 300 Park Avenue
Monday, November 4 at 1pm = Capitol Hill Library, 334 SW 26th
Monday, November 4 at 7pm = Bethany Library, 3510 N. Mueller
Tuesday, November 5 at 7pm – Midwest City Library, 8143 E. Reno
Wednesday, November 6 at 10am = Edmond Library, 10 S. Boulevard
Wednesday, November 6 at 2pm = Northwest Library, 5600 NW 122nd
Thursday, November 7 at 1pm = Southern Oaks Library, 6900 S. Walker
Thursday, November 7 at 7pm = Belle Isle Library, 5501 N. Villa
Friday, November 8 at 10am = The Village Library, 10307 N. Pennsylvania
Friday, November 8 at 2:30pm = Del City Library, 4509 SE 15^th

For more information about this or any Metropolitan Library System program, visit the

MLS website, www.metrolibrary.org.

PERPETUAL MOTION
DANCE CLASSES

Image provided

 Classes

Beginning/Intermediate Modern Dance - Monday 6:00-7:00

Beginning/ Intermediate Aerial Dance - Wednesday 6:30-7:30

• home / 
• classes  / 

www.perpetualmotiondance.org

Drop in Rate: 10.00
5 and 10 Class Cards Available

All classes held at-
Oklahoma Contemporary
3000 General Pershing Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73107

HARTEL DANCE GROUP TO PERFORM
 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT

Highlights include the world premiere of “PopArt” by Austin Hartel in collaboration with visual Artist Marwin Begaye, as well a collaborative dance theater piece with Tonia Ellis set to music by composer Aaron Robinson with poems by local artist Skip Largent. When:      November, 8th & 9th    at 8pm Where:    Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center                           3000 General Pershing Blvd. OKC 73107  Hartel Dance Group, Oklahoma City ‘s internationally acclaimed modern dance company, is pleased to announce the program for its fall season.  This season will include a rich variety to of collaborations between local Oklahoma artists.  Artistic Director, Austin Hartel is an award winning, internationally acclaimed choreographer who has been presenting his unique brand of dance on stages worldwide for over 25 years, is pleased to announce the lineup for this show. His vision for “What’s love got to do with it?” will weave together many facets of connections, networks, and rituals that define our lives. Journeying through life, we inherently create relationships—some lasting, some passing, and some that impact us in the most transformative of ways. We have more means to access human connection than any generation past. Yet for some reason, there remains a cold undercurrent of isolation, loneliness, and separation that bridles many of our experiences—whether we are aware of it or not. All humanity craves acceptance and love, but Hartel poses the well-known question, “What’s love got to do with it?” While love is a powerful, deep-seated emotion, active relationships do not flourish on love alone.   Hartel’s World Premiere PopArt, with the help of Visual Artist Marwin Begaye will also include original music by Aaron Robinson. In this piece, the choreographer is exploring the possibilities that lay between performing arts, the artist and the result of that interaction by tracking the movements of dancers Becca Schmedt, Karen Boyd Bethel, Thyrsa Da Rosa, Nicolette Battle, Kira Blazik, and Maggie Boyett, musician Aaron Robinson and the concept of visual arts. “Dance is an ethereal form of art, it is experienced the moment it happens. You can take home a painting, a sculpture, a piece of music, but dancers and choreographers, give you sensations and feelings.    With PopArt, I am looking for ways to give the dance a more permanent visual record, to create unique pieces of art each night that can be taken home and hung on the wall as a way to recall the visceral experience of the performance”. says Hartel.   Choreographer Chris Castleberry will present his hilarious “Delicious," a study of some of the absurdities presented by the dating rituals of human beings.   SleepWalkers, a poem written by local artist Skip Largent, will also be presented in this evening of  “WLGTDWI”.  Choreographed in collaboration with Austin Hartel and Tonia Sina Ellis and original score by Aaron Robinson, this piece will take us through a journey of a couple, that’s walking through someone else’s dream, or not. Additional works to be presented to round out this performance are Tears for Maria, choreographed by Hartel and exquisitely performed by Karen Boyd Bethel. Searching For… a US premiere by Austin Hartel danced by Nicolette Battle and Maggie Boyett. This duet was originally commissioned for the Momentum Dance Company in Guatemala City. Kira Blazik’s  Banksy My Warhol, a street dance layered onto contemporary movement solo that pokes fun at the artist’s ego and the adoration that inflates it.  Love Me Tender, a suite of short pieces choreographed by Hartel, representing three aspects of the evenings theme “ What’s Love got to do with it?” Tickets, purchased in advance are $15.00 Those purchased at the door are $20.00 Students Tickets are $10.00 Advance purchases and additional information about the Hartel Dance Group can be found on-line at www.harteldancegroup.org/new Performances are on Friday November 8th        8:00 pm. Saturday November 9th    8:00pm.  Where: Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd. OKC 73107 (Due to construction, enter at Gate 5, which is Gordon Cooper Boulevard, and head west. Once you reach Land Rush Street, you will need to turn right (north) and head until you see the Arts Center).

THE MAGIC LANTERN 
CELEBRATION FOR 
CHILDREN OF ALL AGES
THIS SUNDAY ON THE
PASEO

From a recent Magic Lantern Celebration. Image provided.

“We are all Magic Lanterns, lit by the light of imagination.”   Inspired by this verse, the artists of Paseo are opening their studios to the creativity of children on Sunday, October 27 from 3:00 to 7:30 PM.   A time of light instead of fright, children are invited to descend upon the streets of the Paseo Arts District to celebrate their creativity by bringing to life characters of their own making.  On Paseo, children can jump into their own imaginations and have fun doing it with a different twist to the Halloween tradition  through visual art, dance, and song.  Community artists are offering children of all ages hands-on costume-making workshops from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m., followed by a “Spin and Sparkle ” where children can parade in their costumes from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

All that children need to do to prepare for the event is to have an active imagination, wear their everyday clothing to Paseo, and be ready to make wonder from paper and little bits of collected possibilities.  Discovering and doing are the main ingredients needed to make the most of this event.   Awaiting children are all kinds of paper that can be twisted, crumpled, folded, ruffled, and embellished into fantastic sculptures to be worn over their clothing.  Their imaginings can inspire an endless variety of characters. Children and parents can walk from studio to studio to build original hats, add a touch of shimmer to their faces, and find a pumpkin friend in twigs, leaves, and flower petals.  This is an engaging opportunity for parents to be involved in the problem solving aspects of their child’s constructions.  Helping hands and brainstorming are an important part of this creative process.

           

The celebration will culminate in twilight when children can display their costumes.   A giant winding pathway painted on the street in the shape of a Pumpkin Jack ‘O Lantern by artist, Elizabeth Muller, provides the setting for the spectacle of costumes.  The StarDanceSwan dancers and Steve McLinn of Ojas Music, join children in generating a spinning, sparkling dance of light and energy. 

“This is a unique experience for children, not only are they making wearable art, they are also moving into the realms of theatrical expression and creative dance.  I am delighted to watch the children become immersed in the creative process; they embody the wonder of the Magic Lantern verse, their faces seem to glow, ” says Lorrie Keller of Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan who designs the celebration.   “Halloween is full of sweets, but the real treat of the Magic Lantern Celebration is in the authenticity each child brings into their own creations.” 

The Magic Lantern Celebration is organized to happen whether the weather is rainy or sunny.  Costume Making is from 3:00 to 6:30 PM.  Plan your day to stay for the Spin and Sparkle Parade from 6:30 to 7:30 PM.  All children must be accompanied by an adult.  Activities are held at the north end of Paseo at NW 30^th and Dewy.

The studios participating are Rainbow Fleet, Paseo Art Space, StarDanceSwan, ArtScape, and Paseo Pottery.  All activities are free to the public. Donations are appreciated to help with the costs of the event. The Magic Lantern is made possible through the support of the State Arts Council of Oklahoma, the Paseo Arts Association and Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan.  For information call the Paseo Arts Association at 525-2688 or go to www.thepaseo.com.

From the press release