Kansas Ballet’s 9th Annual Summer Showcase: The Fairy Doll Ballet
Kansas Ballet’s 9th Annual Summer Showcase will be presented at 6:30 p.m. at Topeka Performing Arts Center on Friday, July 30, 2021. All proceeds benefit the non-profit’s 2021-2022 outreach programming.
Tickets are on sale now: $15.00 General Admission
• 5:30pm: Doors open for shopping, raffle prizes and face painting, kid friendly treats included with the price of admission
• 6:30pm: Ballet presentation
The program features The Fairy Doll Ballet as well as a special presentation of an original ballet by visiting choreographer Marcus Oatis.
THE FAIRY DOLL
This charming one act ballet first premiered in 1888 and is based on a story by ETA Hoffmann -the same gentleman who penned The Nutcracker. The storyline features an enchanted toy shop which enjoys brisk trade during the day but when night falls, the toys miraculously come to life. Choreography staged by Kansas Ballet’s Artistic Directors Stephanie Heston and Alexander Smirnov with music by Josef Bayer.
VISITING ARTISTS / SUMMER INTENSIVE STUDY
The summer performance is a culmination of three weeks of intensive study by students at Kansas Ballet Academy. Academy dancers train several hours per day, five days per week to prepare for the event, while they participate in special workshops and coaching sessions with visiting artists.
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF TOPEKA
As part of our summer camp programming at Boys & Girls Clubs, participating children will be introduced to The Fairy Doll ballet, and invited to attend the Summer Celebration as special guests of Kansas Ballet. Participating clubs include Adams, Tecumseh, Logan and Montera.
DREAM BIG PARTNERS
Kansas Ballet’s presentation of The Fairy Doll Ballet is funded in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC), which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Summer outreach camps were funded in part by a TopArts Grant from the City of Topeka administered by ARTSConnect.
VISITING ARTIST BIO
Marcus Oatis, Choreographer.
Mr. Oatis began his dance education with the summer program Ailey Camp and his music education under the tutelage of his grandfather Sylvester Heath. These experiences afforded Mr. Oatis the opportunity to study at additional programs to include Smith Sisters Dance Studio, The Center Dance, Kansas City Ballet, the Ailey School, and Paseo Academy of the Fine and Performing Arts. Mr. Oatis would later graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a scholarship student with a degree in Music Performance. In 2008, Mr. Oatis joined the Kansas City Ballet as a professional ballet dancer under the direction of William Whitener. Mr. Oatis was able to perform works by esteemed choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Bruce Marks, Peter Martins, Robert Hill, Ib Anderson, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, and Yuri Possokhov. Mr. Oatis’ most notable roles were as the Russian in Todd Bolender’s The Nutcracker, Jessica Lang’s Splendid Isolations III, the Moor in Jose Limon’s The Moor’s Pavane, Jerome Robbins Afternoon of a Faun, and Balanchine’s Serenade. Mr. Oatis has also performed with the Owen/Cox Dance Group, Arcanium Dance Project, and Central Dance Theatre
