Tulsa Ballet’s 70th anniversary season will feature five full-length ballets, both classical and contemporary, that mark milestones in the company’s recent history, along with its annual celebration of new works, “Creations in Studio K.”
Artistic director Marcello Angelini said the lineup for the Tulsa Ballet’s 2026-2027 season is “about looking back and looking forward.”
“Creations in Studio K” will open the season with performances Sept. 11-20 in the Studio K space located in the company’s Brookside headquarters, 1212 E. 45th Place. The program will feature new creations by former resident choreographer Ma Cong, now the artistic director of the Richmond Ballet; Yuri Yanowsky, whose “Classical Symphony” has been a staple of the company’s touring programs; and Natasha Adorlee, whose “Horas de Hamra” was a highlight of the 2025 “Creations” program.
This will be followed by the return of “Swan Lake,” choreographed by Angelini after the Petipa/Ivanov original, which will be presented Oct. 22-25 at Tulsa PAC, 101 E. Third St.
The company’s annual production of “The Nutcracker” will run Dec. 5-20 at Tulsa PAC.
“Cinderella,” the Andrew McNichol version of the classic fairy tale that premiered in 2023, will return to Tulsa PAC for performances Feb. 18-21, 2027.
Edwaard Liang’s “Romeo & Juliet,” another Tulsa Ballet commission, will be performed April 1-4, 2027, at Tulsa PAC.
The season will conclude with “Carmen,” Kenneth Tindall’s electrifying adaptation of the Bizet opera. The production, May 6-9, 2027, will be presented at the Lorton Performance Center on The University of Tulsa campus, 550 S. Gary Ave.
“One thing that dictated the sort of season we have planned is knowing the Tulsa PAC is going to close in 2028,” Angelini said.
Tulsa Ballet’s 2026-2027 season
“Creations in Studio K” Sept. 11-20 at Studio K, Tulsa Ballet Brookside
“Swan Lake” Oct. 22-25 at Tulsa PAC
“The Nutcracker” Dec. 5-20 at Tulsa PAC
“Cinderella” Feb. 18-21, 2027 at Tulsa PAC
“Romeo & Juliet” April 1-4, 2027 at Tulsa PAC
“Carmen” May 6-9, 2027 at Lorton Performance Center, The University of Tulsa
Tulsa Performing Arts Center is scheduled to undergo a phased series of renovations and expansions beginning in 2028, with the first phase scheduled to be completed by 2031. In the interim, temporary performance structures, capable of housing some 1,400 seats, will be constructed to accommodate shows by groups, including Tulsa Ballet.
“But for us to present a full-length ballet production, we need a theater with at least 77 flying lines,”Angelini said, referring to the system that allows stagehands to raise and lower scenery pieces, lighting rigs and other stagecraft paraphernalia.
“It’s likely that these temporary structures, as good as they may be, aren’t going to have the equipment for us to present a full-length ballet with all the scenery and lighting effects our audiences have come to expect,” he said. “So that is one reason why it was decided that we would use this season to present several of the full-length ballets that we knew our patrons love, because it could be a number of years before we can stage them again.”
Angelini chose to begin the season at the PAC with his version of “Swan Lake” as it was both the first full-length ballet he set for the company after taking over as artistic director in 1995. It was also the first time the company ever performed a complete “Swan Lake.”
“Then we are going to have ‘Romeo & Juliet,’ which was the first full-length piece I commissioned from an outside choreographer,” he said. “It was also Edwaard’s first full-length creation, and it really established him as storyteller.”
“Our ‘Cinderella’ is another ballet that we commissioned from an up-and-coming choreographer, Andrew McNichol, and one for which we were also able to commission all new sets and costumes,” Angelini said.
Angelini will meet with McNichol later this month in the United Kingdom to discuss some changes to the ballet for its 2026-2027 season performances.
“I thought that about 85% of ‘Cinderella’ was brilliant,” he said. “And to be honest, to achieve 80 to 85% of your vision in a new full-length ballet is an achievement. But there are certain moments that I thought could be even grander — Cinderella’s entrance, little things in the pas de deux. It’s all about making a very good ballet into a truly excellent one.”
Tindall’s “Carmen,” which stripped down Bizet’s tragic romance to its essence, will be presented this time in the more intimate venue of the Lorton Performance Center.
“Actually, ‘Carmen’ was never intended to be performed at the PAC,” Angelini said. “The original idea was to present it in the Lorton, because it’s such an intense and intimate show, and I think audiences are going to really enjoy being able to see this ballet in the way and in the venue for which it was intended.”
In addition to her yet-to-be-named work for “Creations in Studio K,” Adorlee is creating a new work for TB II, Tulsa Ballet’s second company, which will be part of its Hardesty Family Foundation Children’s Series.
Adorlee will be creating a unique version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Ugly Duckling,” that will be a multi-media production.
“The story is going to be set in modern times, and will be about a teenager struggling to deal with all the changes that one goes through in adolescence,” Angelini said. “It’s that time when many young people don’t feel comfortable in their own skins and how you ultimately discover the swan that is inside you.
“Natasha is shooting the film elements that will be part of the ballet, and the parts of the story that occur in the modern day will be told through hip-hop, a language most young people identify with, while the parts that veer into the imagination and the emotions will be told through ballet.”
Season tickets for the 2026-2027 Tulsa Ballet season are now on sale through the Tulsa Ballet ticket office, 918-749-6006, tulsaballet.org.
The company’s next production is another full-length classic, “The Sleeping Beauty,” with performances set for Feb. 12-15 at the Tulsa PAC. The ballet is choreographed by Angelini after the original production by Marius Petipa and features newly commissioned sets and costumes created by famed designer Emma Kingsbury. The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Stafford Wilson, will accompany the performances.
Tickets are $57.50-$164.25. 918-749-6006, tulsaballet.org.
James Watts is a freelance contributor to the Tulsa Flyer.
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