OKC Ballet to stage Shakespearean comedy

Just off the smashing success of its recent performance of The Sleeping Beauty, Oklahoma City Ballet will perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream on April 21-23 at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s lush score and including selections from Benjamin Britten, Artistic Director Robert Mills brings Shakespeare’s classic comedy to life for this world premiere ballet. The adventures and misadventures of a group of mortals and immortals in their quest for love will be told with original choreography from Mills, featuring the beautiful company artists supplemented with student dancers from The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet as bugs and fireflies.

“I’m proud to present this work based on one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. I am having a wonderful time with the dancers creating it,” said Mills. “This version will be fun, fast paced, lighthearted, and all wrapped up in one act.”

Opening the evening will be a world premiere work titled If These Walls Could Talk from Denver choreographer Sarah Tallman. Set to Robert Schumann piano music, If These Walls Could Talk depicts an emotional story of love, loss, and connection between individuals and community. Though the point of departure is the retelling of a fictional story during a particularly destructive time, the ballet also communicates a wide range of emotions that awakens viewers to the reality of the human spirit.

The family-friendly double-bill ballet will run approximately two hours with one intermission. For more information, visit www.okcballet.com or call 405-848-TOES (8637). Tickets are on sale now and start at $35.

Photo: OKC Ballet Soloist Amy Potter. Photo by Shevaun Williams and Associates Commercial Photography.