State of the Arts

Past highlights and a future wish list for Tulsa’s performing arts

For performing arts, 2015 was a year of continued creative growth in expected and unexpected places, particularly in the ways we think about the realities and possibilities of the arts in Tulsa. 

There’s a prevalent idea that the “big three” organizations—the ballet, the symphony, and the opera—stand strong with a fair degree of comfort, and a lot of other groups survive in the interstices. The data unearthed by Arts Alliance Tulsa, about whose launch I wrote last month, reveals a different story. Every single arts organization in Tulsa, not just the big ones, contributes in substantial ways to the economic life of our community. And every single one needs more sustainable support. 

The truth is that even the most seemingly indomitable groups have to work hard to balance taking creative risks with filling the seats. Conversation with arts leaders over many years suggests to me that what makes an arts organization strong is precisely what makes any living organism strong: that work, that play, that push and pull between challenge and security. 

Instead of making a “best-of” performing arts list for 2015, I’d like to celebrate a few performances and organizations that tilted toward the “risk” category, and offer up my wish list for 2016. 

1 // Tulsa Ballet’s new creations initiatives. 

Supporting new work is expensive, but TB has decided it’s worth the investment. Their Emerging Choreographer’s Showcase in April highlighted dancemakers from within the company—new talents who are among the generation that will literally keep the art form from dying out if they’re given chances to make work now. I’ve been thinking about the curious, sculptural use of stage space and the delicate yet muscular transparency of the movement Rodrigo Hermesmeyer created in his short contemporary ballet “Skins and Sky” ever since that performance. 

And back in September, TB’s Creations in Studio K series, coming up on its tenth year, shot a gorgeous, angular, sexy jolt of Dwight Rhoden into the audience’s neural pathways. Rhoden, one of America’s most celebrated young choreographers, joins a long line of path breakers whom TB artistic director Marcello Angelini has invited to innovate amongst us.

2 // “God of Carnage” at the Nightingale Theatre. 

In May, the Midwestern Theater Troupe and Odeum Theatre Company collaborated to present this brilliant, scathing, hilarious, deeply uncomfortable play to full houses. An obvious choice? Nope (decade-old play by a French author, obscure title, etc.). But well-worth it; a superb theatrical workout for performers and audiences alike. 

3 // “TaxDermia” at Living Arts. 

Theater, dance, site-specific performance art, political manifesto: this production from Mexico City, covering the subject of political violence throughout history, made for a November evening both devastating and healing in its raw sincerity. Deeply human, intelligently crafted, with unbelievably fearless performances — a brilliant show.

4 // Community and audience engagement.

Organizations like Chamber Music Tulsa, the Comedy Parlor, and Choregus take the time and resources to provide pre-performance talks and post-performance Q&As, classes for masters and beginners, and other ways for patrons to understand and experience firsthand the joys and challenges of making art. 

5 // Every local theater company that’s going bigger, harder, and more complex with its productions. 

And the ones that commit to small, provocative, uncertainly profitable shows, as well. Are the productions always great? No way. But I hope we are moving toward an arts environment where pushing boundaries and sparking conversation are just as valued as success.

My wish list for 2016:

•More diverse critical conversation. (Do we need a podcast? A YouTube channel? Roving reporters who collect audience feedback right after performances?)

•More communication and creative collaboration between artists of different genres and organizations. I want to see Chris Mantle live-painting with a string quartet at the PAC, and ballet dancers improvising with a punk band inside the Warhol exhibit. It’s still a small town, really. Presenters could take much greater advantage of it.

•More performance outlets like the Tulsa Fringe Festival, where emerging artists can be supported and encouraged as they try new things and gain the rewards of experience. 

•More mid-sized venues, perhaps run collectively by participating organizations, and more efforts to offer broader access to a more diverse audience, such as the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra’s offer of childcare during performances. 

•More original work, more venues, and more recognition of local artists representing a diverse array of minority voices, full stop. 

Keep at it, Tulsa. And keep getting out there, Tulsans. Artists and audiences — we’re all taking chances here, for the sake of a richer, more interesting life together. Art is how we get to know ourselves. Oil may have built this city, but it’s art that keeps the marrow in its veins.

For more from Alicia, read her article on Arts Alliance Tulsa.