OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — There’s no two-year vacation from something you love to do.
For musicians used to playing regularly in an orchestra, the restrictions imposed by a global pandemic felt more like an exile that Philharmonic conductor Alexandar Micklethwaite says they are only now happily returning to.
“Everyone is so emotional and motivated to play again. It’s really exciting,” he says of his players.
The same goes for dancers forced into isolation and often into silence.
But this tango is not dead.
Hard to define, easier to feel from the inside, anyway good music that makes us want to move with it, it can only be held for so long.
“Just to finally get out,” Micklethwaite continues, “and take the lid off. We can finally take the lid off and let go.
At most orchestra concerts, the conductor is the only one allowed to dance.
In this show, the dancers also share the stage.
Sound and movement are welcome in a show called “Ballroom With a Twist”.
Alexander argues, “In this case, it adds another element because the music is incredibly varied.”
The tango is a dance that has known its turn in darkness, prohibited at different periods of its history because it is too suggestive, too controversial.
Keeping up music or dancing for a long time, especially after a long absence, seems impossible.
The Ballroom With a Twist concert is scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights, March 18-19, at the OKC Civic Center.
Professional dancers will share the stage with the orchestra.
The ballroom dancers seen in this story from 3-Sixty Entertainment will perform before the concert and during intermission.
For more information, visit www.okcphil.org/concerts/ballroom-with-a-twist/.
