OU SUMMER DANCE
PERFORMS PIECES BY
OKLAHOMA FESTIVAL
BALLET AND
CONTEMPORARY DANCE
OKLAHOMA

The University of Oklahoma School of Dance (SOD) is hosting Summer Dance performances in Reynolds Performing Arts Center, studio 3002 on June 26 at 8:00 p.m., June 27 at 3:00 and 8:00 p.m. and June 28 at 3:00 p.m. Oklahoma Festival Ballet and Contemporary Dance Oklahoma will participate in the production and the performances will be followed by a champagne and dessert reception with the dancers and choreographers.

The 2015 Summer Dance choreographers include SOD professors Ilya Kozadayev, Austin Hartel, and SOD director Mary Margaret Holt, as well as graduate student Tye Love. Lighting design will be by Professor Emeritus Jerry Lewis. Each summer, students from the School of Dance spend four weeks learning and perfecting original and traditional choreography as well as participating in intensive technique classes. Director Holt has said, “We greatly enjoy the opportunity to expand our companies’ repertoires during the summer, often experimenting with works that have a lighter or more experimental feel as well as a more intimate connection with the audience.”

These performances provide a unique opportunity for the audience because they take place in Studio 3002, which is transformed by theatrical lighting from a studio space to a performance space. The audience sits only feet from the performers, in a more intimate environment, requiring dancers to communicate with more subtly than would be the case on a traditional proscenium stage. Following the performance, the audience has the opportunity to discuss the production with both the dancers and choreographers over dessert and champagne.

Chelsea Walker, SOD senior, describes Summer Dance: “It is an opportunity to expand my performance skills while training at the University. After two years of Summer Dance I can honestly say these have been my favorite performance opportunities at OU.”

Tickets for the performance and reception cost $27 for adults and $15 for students and are available for purchase with credit card by calling the OU Fine Arts Box Office at (405) 325-4101. Tickets will also be available for purchase one hour before each performance by cash or check only. Due to limited seating advance purchase is recommended.

The University of Oklahoma’s program in dance was founded in 1963 by Yvonne Choteau and Miguel Terekhov, former principal dancers with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. What had been a department became the School of Dance in 1998, with Mary Margaret Holt as Director. Undergraduate and graduate dance majors, along with general education students, total approximately 1000 enrollees in dance classes per semester. The School of Dance's state-of-the-art facility in the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center was completed in 2005.

From staff sources