Ballet Oklahoma

Direction

BRYAN PITTS
Artistic Director

Selecting the ballets that a company will perform during the upcoming season is both a privilege and a responsibility reserved for the artistic director. There are many factors that must be considered, such as the unique characteristics of the dancers in the company, the likes and dislikes of ticket buyers and, of course, the impulse to create something fresh and challenging that will fire the imagination of both the artists and the audience.

The ballets that Bryan Pitts has chosen for the 2007-2008 season represent the perfect solution. Now in his twenty-first year with Ballet Oklahoma, Bryan knows that his Oklahoma audiences like an eclectic mix of exciting ballets. With this in mind, he opens the 2007-2008 season with the world premiere of "Frankenstein". The Christmas holiday's most cherished event, "The Nutcracker", returns in December. For the midwinter production he plans the premiere of "Zorro" and "The Three Musketeers" will cap the season in April.

Bryan has created 57 new ballets for Ballet Oklahoma since he arrived in 1986. Many, such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Three Musketeers, have opened to record attendance. Yet the most popular ballet in its repertoire, in fact the most popular ballet for any ballet company, is The Nutcracker.

“It's an interesting thing, the way that some of the same people will come to see The Nutcracker again and again, and yet each time they come they will see something different,” he said.

“I have actually had members of the audience ask me why I changed this or that part of the dance, when in fact I hadn't made any changes. They had just discovered that certain aspect of the production for the first time,” he said.

“Every audience is different, and thus responds differently to each performer and each performance,” Bryan said. “No matter how many times we present The Nutcracker, no two performances are the same.”

Every live performance is an opportunity for the audience to participate in the creation of the art right before their eyes. No doubt this intangible factor accounts for the fact that live theatre has continued to flourish, no matter how technology advances the quality of television and film. The best computer-generated special effects are not quite equal to the experience of actually being in the presence of an artist pouring his heart into his work.

Bryan came to Oklahoma City from the highly acclaimed Dallas Ballet where he served as ballet master. He began his career attending the School of American Ballet in New York City. From 1969 until 1978 he studied under Balanchine and danced leading roles in many of Balanchine's productions, including Prodigal Son, La Sonnambula and The Nutcracker. During that period, he experienced one of the highlights of his career, dancing the role of the Polish boy Tadzio in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Death in Venice.

In 1976 Bryan married New York City Ballet dancer Laura Flagg, and in 1978 the two joined the Zurich Opera Ballet as principal dancers. After a year of working and performing in Zurich, they returned to the U.S. and joined the Los Angeles Ballet as soloists at the invitation of John Clifford.

Bryan has studied with many celebrated teachers and ballet masters, including Stanley Williams, Alexandria Danilova, Alexander Minz, Peter Martins, Andre Eglevesky, John Taras, Jerome Robbins, Flemming Flindt, Maggie Black, Robert Lindgren and Sonya Tyven. However he says Balanchine influenced him most as a dancer and as a choreographer.

LAURA FLAGG-PITTS
Assistant to the Artistic Director

Laura Flagg-Pitts, from West Point, New York, is the daughter of an Air Force colonel fighter pilot, John B. Flagg, and classically trained soprano and educator, Miriam T. Flagg. She began her training at the School of American Ballet at the age of nine, one of the youngest students ever to attend on scholarship. While still a young student, she performed with both the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. The Royal Ballet Academy offered her a scholarship, which she declined in order to continue studying with George Balanchine.

Laura has danced principal and soloist roles with Ballet Oklahoma, New York City Ballet, Zurich Opera Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet and the Dallas Ballet. She has danced principal and soloist roles, winning international critical acclaim, in Balanchine and Robbins repertories, as well as a wide range of classic ballets and contemporary works .

Laura has enjoyed a successful and varied career, with several television and film appearances to her credit. She danced with Peter Gennaro on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for three years. She has made several television appearances with husband Bryan Pitts and Edward Villella, and has also been featured on "The Merv Griffin Show."

Laura was invited by Ballet Oklahoma to serve as Assistant to the Artistic Director in June 1986 in addition to her role as company dancer. However, she feels her greatest accomplishment is as mother to John Christian Pitts, born in May 1985, and Kallen Dalton Pitts, who arrived in February 1991.

The Company

	EMILY FINE Dancer Emily Fine returns to Ballet Oklahoma for her fourth season. A native Oklahoman, she trained at the School of Ballet Oklahoma for eight years prior to joining the company. She has performed in Dracula’s Revenge, Tangos, Gloria, Valentine Suites, Firebird, Peter Pan, Carmina Burana and Prodical Son. Miss Fine has been featured in Peter and the Wolf as the Duck, Door Moose in Alice in Wonderland, Spanish, Chinese and Russian in The Nutcracker, and “Gigue” in Table Manners. Emily recently performed a solo from the ballet Pequita at the Kennedy Center in Washington D. C.
	ERIN GALLAGHER Dancer Erin Gallagher is excited to return for her third season with Ballet Oklahoma. Her classical ballet training began with Lori Ardis in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and she continued on scholarship at the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Connecticut. Most recently, she trained and performed with the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet Society under the direction of John White and Margarita de Saa. Erin enjoyed the challenges of last year, especially her role as Arabian in The Nutcracker, and looks forward to the opportunities of the coming season.
	STEPHANIE FORAKER Dancer Stephanie Foraker is excited about her first year dancing in the company with Ballet Oklahoma. She has trained at the School of Ballet Oklahoma for the past two years. She has also attended summer intensives at The Rock in Philadelphia, Washington Ballet School, and Ballet Austin. Stephanie has enjoyed performing roles in Alice in Wonderland, Symphony, Nutcracker, Dracula’s Revenge, Gloria, and Firebird.
	AUDREY JOHNSTON Dancer Audrey Johnston is happy to join Ballet Oklahoma this year as a company member. She has been a student at the School of Ballet Oklahoma since she was three years old. She has attended many summer ballet intensives including Joffrey Midwest, the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi and Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. She is thrilled about the upcoming season.
	NIKOL KLEIN Dancer Nikol Klein comes to Ballet Oklahoma from Pittsburg, PA where she received her early training at the Pittsburg Youth Ballet, studying closely with Tamar Rachelle, Kimmary Williams, and Patrick Hinson. Upon completing high school, she spent two years in Pittsburg Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program under the direction of David Holladay. She had the honor of performing with the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre in productions including George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Ben Stevenson’s Cleopatra. Prior to coming to Ballet Oklahoma Nikol spent one year dancing with Ballet Austin under Artistic Director Stephen Mills. Since joining Ballet Oklahoma in 2004, Nikol has especially enjoyed performing roles as Prayer in Coppelia, The Undead in Dracula’s Revenge, Waltz of the Flowers pas de deux in The Nutcracker, and the Por una Cabeza in Tangos.
	CALLYE McCOLLUM Dancer Callye McCollum is thrilled to be joining Ballet Oklahoma for her first season as a company member. She has attended the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute for the past four summers, where she was privileged to work with Deanna McBrearty of New York City Ballet. She has been training with the School of Ballet Oklahoma for the past five years.
	HILARY PRICE Dancer Hilary Price is excited to return to Ballet Oklahoma for her fourth season. She trained at the School of Ballet Oklahoma and has attended summer programs at the Jillana School, Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, San Francisco Ballet School, and most recently at American Ballet Theatre in New York. Some of her favorite roles she has performed with Ballet Oklahoma include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppelia, Table Manners, and Prodigal Son.
	LOREN RICH Dancer Loren Rich returns for her sixth season with Ballet Oklahoma. She is a graduate of The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts where she studied for 15 years. While at the conservatory Loren trained with Elenor D’Antonio and Elena Tchernichova. She has also spent two summers attending the Joffrey Workshop. Loren’s roles with the company have included corp work in Carmen, The Firebird, Coppelia, Flowers in The Nutcracker, Washington Post March in America, and soloist in Bolero.
	JACOB SPARSO Dancer and Faculty Member Jacob Sparso is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, where he received his training and made his debut at the Royal Danish Ballet. He has danced with Baltimore Ballet, spent eight seasons with Dallas Ballet, three seasons with The Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium and five with Ballet Dallas. This is Jacob’s 11th year with Ballet Oklahoma. He also is a faculty member at the School of Ballet Oklahoma.
	TODD STICKNEY Dancer Todd Stickney is in this third season with Ballet Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and the Joffrey Ballet School. Todd was a member of the Joffrey II Dancers and danced professionally with the Joffrey Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. In addition, he toured in a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Phyllis Diller. Todd has performed as a guest artist with the Contemporary Ballet Theatre, Mobile Ballet, New York Dance Theatre and Wichita Falls Ballet Company.
	JAMES WILLIAMS Dancer James Williams returns for this eleventh season with Ballet Oklahoma. He began his training with the Palm Beach Ballet Center and continued on scholarship at the Houston Ballet Academy. He has danced professionally with the Houston Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Ballet Dallas and the Ballet Oklahoma, and completed three tours to Japan with Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. His theatre performances include 42nd Street, Guys and Dolls, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady and The Mikado. Some of his favorite roles include Hillarion in Giselle, the Husband in Forgotten Memories, Demitrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. Last season James was seen as Dr. Seward in Dracula’s Revenge and the Wolf in Peter and the Wolf.
	WEI WU Dancer Wei Wu danced with the Lioning Ballet Troupe in China for 15 years before coming to the United States in 1996 to join the David Taylor Dance Theater. He was a company member of Tulsa Ballet before joining Ballet Oklahoma. Wei won a gold medal at the French Houlgate Seventh International Ballet Dance Competition in 1988. Now in his ninth season, he has danced in roles of the Count in Dracula, Bert in It’s a Wonderful Life, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Act III, Albrecht in Giselle, Act II, Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Toreador in Carmen, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan in Peter Pan, Principal in Gloria, Grandfather in Peter and the Wolf, Monster in Firebird, and Van Helsing in Dracula’s Revenge.