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Tulsa Ballet in Korea
Published: 8/20/2008 11:24 AM
Last Modified: 8/20/2008 11:24 AM

Tulsa Ballet artistic director Marcello Angelini has been sending email updates about the company's first trip to Asia, as one of the headliners for Ballet Expo Seoul in South Korea.

The company, it would appear, is making quite an impression on South Korean audiences, with its performances of Nacho Duato's "Remansos" and Hans van Manen's "Black Cake."

Angelini's most recent update talked about the company's performance of "This is Your Life," created for the company by Korean-born choreographer Young Soon Hue.

Tulsa Ballet was the last of the four companies taking part in Ballet Expo Seoul to perform, and Angelini writes:

"Up to now, the audience was lukewarm. And then came Tulsa Ballet with "This Is Your Life." The audience got into it right away. The few that understood English immediately jumped in and started answering to (Joshua Trader)'s questions. However, once the dancing started, there was little reaction from the audience. Even in the funny pieces, like the beauty salon and
the boys' strip tease, there was no laughter or sound whatsoever coming from the auditorium. I started fearing for the worst

"The company got a bit nervous, too, with the lack of feedback. You could see that they were putting more and more energy as the ballet progressed, in what they
were doing. By the end, there was so much energy that they were starting to throw themselves off their centers.

"Curtain came down. ROAR FROM THE AUDIENCE!!! They started screaming, cheering, they would not stop clapping. The organizers came to me and said 'Tulsa Ballet IS Ballet Expo Seoul 2008!' We had groupies waiting outside the theater for autographs. I was the last one out of the theater and there were still people waiting for me to sign the programs!"

Tulsa Ballet has one more performance scheduled -- they will be performing all three of their ballets at another theater in Seoul. Tulsa Ballet was the only company taking part in Ballet Expo to be asked to give such a performance -- all the other companies ended their tours with that last performance.

Boston Ballet is due to tour South Korea in late August. I wonder if Korean dance audiences will be saying, "This Boston company is all right, but they don't compare to Tulsa Ballet....."





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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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