"La Sylphide" to be last performance for OKC Ballet favorite

The captivating love story that is La Sylphide is the story of James, a young Scotsman. On the eve of his wedding day, he falls in love with a sylph, a beautiful fairy of the forest.

The Oklahoma City Ballet with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic will bring to the OKC Civic Center La Sylphide, one of the world’s oldest surviving ballets and the first major ballet of the Romantic era. The story unravels in a mist of uncertainty as an evil witch vows to keep James from true love of any kind.

This performance will be the final OKC Ballet performance of Principal dancer Miki Kawamura. She will be retiring from the stage, dancing her final piece with Oklahoma City Ballet on February 23.

Kawamura began her training in Sapporo, Japan, then continued at Pacific Dance Arts in Vancouver, Canada. She danced professionally with Eugene Ballet/Ballet Idaho, City Ballet of San Diego, and Charleston Ballet Theatre before joining Oklahoma City Ballet in 2010. 

With Oklahoma City Ballet, Ms. Kawamura has performed Principal roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Coppelia, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Little Mermaid, and The Sleeping Beauty, in addition to the title roles in Paquita, Carmen, Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet, Scheherezade – 1001 Arabian Nights, and Giselle. 

Her repertoire includes George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, August Bournonville’s Napoli Divertissements, Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, in addition to works by Gerald Arpino, Margo Sappington, Nicolo Fonte, Twyla Tharp, Stanton Welch, Paul Vasterling, and Jiří Kylián. She has also created roles in new works by Jessica Lang, Alan Hineline, Matthew Neenan, Ma Cong, Brian Enos and Robert Mills. 

Kawamura is an American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 5 of the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum and serves as a Ballet Master for Oklahoma City Ballet. She was named “Artist of the Year” in 2014 by the Paseo Arts Association.

La Sylphide Guest Conductor is Andrews Sill, the Associate Music Director of New York City Ballet and Music Director of Milwaukee Ballet. The performance will be staged by Jacob Sparso, a native of Copenhagen, Denmark.

See the Oklahoma City Ballet in this ethereal production that captures the beauty of classical ballet. La Sylphide is one of the world’s oldest surviving ballets. With a glorious score from Løvenskiold and August Bournonville’s original choreography, this performance is sure to be a treat.

La Sylphide runs February 22-24 at Civic Center Music Hall with music performed by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. For tickets, visit www.okcballet.org/performances or call (405) 848- TOES (8637).

Copyright The Gayly - 2/11/2019 @6:57 a.m. CST.