OKLAHOMA CITY – Imagine getting the chance to peek inside your favorite artist’s mind to see their creative process from first spark to finished work. That’s what Oklahoma City Ballet has in store with their annual production, “Future Voices.”
A must-see event for ballet-goers each year, “Future Voices: A Chorographic Showcase” gives dancers the rare opportunity to share another side of themselves while flexing their creative muscles.
“Future Voices” runs Friday, March 20th through Sunday, March 22nd at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, sponsored by OK Let’s Dance and the Kirkpatrick Family Fund.
Each year, select members of the OKC Ballet performance company come “to the front of the room”, as rehearsal director Ben Tucker described it to the audience during the first weekend of performances at the company’s Susan E. Brackett Dance Center.
Selectees are given a unique chance to choreograph their peers and showcase a different side to their dance expertise. Many of the eight world premiere dances in this year’s “Future Voices” are by first-time choreographers. While audiences have seen them dance, some for many years, here they are shown in a whole new light.
This year’s choreographers are company members Kara Troester Blythe, Mickayla Carr, Randolph Fernandez, Alejandro González, Rachel Kundzins, Paige Russell, Yeva-Mariia Skorenka, and Erina Tanaka.
Each dancer has created a new work featuring their own designs and choreography, down to the music selection, lighting, and costumes. The dancers create eight-to-ten-minute dances and draw inspiration from all corners of their lives.
In the show opener “Carpathian Rhapsody,” newcomer and first-time choreographer Yeva-Mariia Skorenka draws inspiration from her homeland of Ukraine.
In “Something Blue,” Erina Tanaka says she was inspired by the other female dancers in the company.
“Something Blue” features an all-female cast. The powerhouse dancers performing this number include Mayu Odaka, Tessa Hogge, Sarah Beth Wriston, Madisen Acevedo, Annabelle Gourley, Isabella Padilla and Aylani Guajardo.
A standout performance and favorite of the evening, “Choir of the Corps” by Klara Troester Blythe, is set to the music of a gospel choir. A large cast performs with joyfulness and hope while their bodies sing praises to the heavens.
“Interlude” by Alejandro González is an introspective and thought-provoking number that left the audience breathless. González has made bold choices with this dance and pushes his dancers to their limits.
As always, the company makes it look easy even when performing acrobatic and athletic feats along the way.
“Sensory Nostalgia” is, surprisingly, inspired by nature, with choreographer Paige Russell describing the sights and smells after the rain as the biggest influence on the design of this dance.
It works perfectly, with the dancers in this large cast clad in earth-toned body suits while they slither along like worms across the studio floor.
“Why is Everything Chrome?” is a piece that’s as unique as its creator, Randolph Fernandez. With an original composition by the choreographer, this piece is further proof that Fernandez can do anything.
“Amending Thoughts” reflects the artist who created it, and the audience was enraptured during this work by Rachel Kundzins.
Closing out the performance was “Hold Me Tightly” by Mickalya Carr. This moving work was inspired by Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s unforgettable win in Milano-Cortina in February. As Carr explains to the audience prior to the performance, the theme of this piece is that “the work is the reward”.
“Future Voices” is presented in – and designed for – an intimate setting, with the showcase’s opening weekend earlier this month in the dance center’s OKC Ballet Studio before a venue switch sees this weekend’s final performances at Oklahoma Contemporary.
The smaller settings are perfect for audiences to experience these new works and to get to know their favorite performers on a deeper level.
These eight world premieres are only a sample of what Oklahoma City’s professional ballet company is capable of.
In May, another annual event – “Shorts” at the Civic Center Music Hall – is sure to draw crowds and wow audiences once again.
The 2026 installment of “Shorts” will feature three brand-new dances. “Radio & Juliet” features music by legendary band Radiohead, and will be followed by the work of another legend, with “The Otis Redding Ballet,” choreographed by guest artist Natasha Adorlee, already creating buzz in the music and dance worlds. The final performance of the night will be the world premiere “Tone It Bach”by OKC Ballet Artistic Director Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye, bringing his unique vision and creative touch.
Oklahoma City Ballet offers unique, moving works of dance throughout the year, and while “The Nutcracker” is their staple, they never rest on it. “Future Voices” is proof that the arts are alive and well in OKC, and there’s something for everyone with this talented company of artists.
The final weekend of “Future Voices: A Choreographic Showcase” is presented at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center March 20th-22nd, 2026, with performances expected to sell out.
Tickets for Shorts, running May 8th – 10th at Civic Center Music Hall, are also on sale now.
Visit okcballet.org for more.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.
