TAHLEQUAH —

Musical theater, traditional folk dances and the annual Nutcracker are part of the repertoire of Tahlequah Ballet.

“Oz the Musical,” debutes March 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Tahlequah Municipal Armory Building.

Tahlequah Ballet’s first musical features a cast of 14, with a chorus that makes the show.

The scarecrow will do a “country bumpkin, hillbilly jazz,” Tahlequah Ballet Director Kim Huffman said. “And Toto does a hip-hop number. Our monkeys do a broadway-style kick line with the witch.”

Some of the scenes will be in the audience. There are only 250 seats, so it’s a very intimate theater experience.

“It will make for a neat experience,” she said.

“Oz the Musical” was chosen because it’s kid friendly, she said. “The music is contemporary, not “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

More than hours of rehearsals, it’s educational fun for the youth who volunteer as dancers, actors and singers, and  their parents, Huffman said.

“Kid’s are grown and gone before you know it,” Huffman said. “These productions have lots of parent volunteer time for those who want to do something fun with their kids. Parents tell me they enjoy the camaraderie.”

Huffman identifies volunteer talents, assigns an overall goal and leaves them in charge of the project.

“They often come up with a great way of doing something I wouldn’t have thought of,” Huffman said.

Surprisingly, there’s little grumbling or whining at Oz rehearsals from the children.

“Dan Vivian, director of Oz, is extremely professional with an excellent vision,” she said. “He’s tough but personal and the kids like him. He always has a smile on his face.”

Vivian helps them step out of themselves and into the character, providing direction on what to portray to the audience, she said.

Neeley Thompson is serving as choral director for the show.

“We started with a few singers and some who said they wouldn’t sing,” Huffman said. “Neeley began with high energy vocalizing to get some of them to open up and now they’re all singing.”

Professionally, Huffman is on a mission to enrich the cultural life of the community through dance education and performance.

“It’s important to me for our children to be really well-rounded,” she said. “We’re more than recitals. We have community productions with local kids performing on local stages.”

A lot of kids only dance once a year in the Nutcracker production.

“I hope if they’re one of the 100 who participate, whose parents and grandparents come and watch, it’s a good memory they’ll have the rest of their lives,” said Huffman. “Some will go on to more with it, like the New York City Ballet, but the majority won’t. They’ll become teachers, or stay-at-home mom’s, or business men or women that are hopefully better for their experience here.”

Tahlequah and the surrounding smaller rural communities have limited artistic opportunities.

“Not being from here I didn’t realize how central Tahlequah is.,” said Huffman. “A really strong dance and arts community is more attractive to people who live here, vacation here and may choose to live here.”

The Northeastern State University theater department and the high school drama department provide Tahlequah Ballet with support.

“There’s so much artistic talent in this town, and I want my kids to have the best teachers,” said Huffman. “We’re a non-profit. We’re here for the student’s but we do have to pay our bills.”

The name change from On Your Toes to Tahlequah Ballet represents that ballet is central to the dance school.

“We still offer all disciplines of dance, but we put the emphasis on ballet because it’s our opinion that to be good at any style of dance you have to have a good foundation in ballet,” she said. “Ballet gives you discipline. It helps you develop a sense of awareness, spatial and muscular. And gives you a sense of proportion.”

It gives you good art, she added.

“You use your body and the space around your body along with musicality.” said Huffman. “Good ballet technique and good tap technique are invaluable to excel at all forms of dance.”

“Staff teacher Kira Abbott is outstanding in jazz, lyrical and broadway styles,” Huffman said. “She does some of NSU’s choreography and has been asked to do River City Players again this summer. She also dances in the show.”