Tulsa Ballet Facility

The home for Tulsa Ballet Theatre, since 1992, is a 37,392 square-foot building located on a 7.29 acre site at 4512 S. Peoria Avenue. Renovated from a school into a state-of-the-art facility specific to the Company's needs, the structure spaciously meets the challenge for dancers, administration, ticket office, scenery, wardrobe, and the Tulsa Ballet Guild as well as leased, street-side retail space. Core to the building are three large dance studios. Studio A, the largest room, is approximately 50 feet by 77 feet and was the former school's gymnasium.

The studio floors, perhaps the most important feature of a ballet studio, were created especially for the dancers - three-layer, basket weave, sprung wooden floors made of ponderosa pine. Designed for the dancers' protection, these sprung floors work with their bodies to give elevation, cushion landings and to avoid injury. The floors are covered by a special dance linoleum for the dancers' safety and security; giving better traction to avoid slipping. A similar dance floor and linoleum (which take about three hours to fully assemble) are laid on stage at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and on tour before every performance.

Studio B, approximately 51 feet by 61 feet, has the same floor construction as Studio C which is about 44 feet by 65 feet. Mirrors in the studios reach from the floor to ten feet and are almost flawlessly seamed together, while special attention to lighting needs and observation areas make these studios both practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Since music is the sister muse of dance, the piano in the studio is the signature piece of a professional ballet company. The piano in Studio A has special meaning for Tulsa's music community. It belonged to the late Ligia Autori, Polish concert pianist and the wife of the late Maestro Franco Autori, acclaimed conductor of the Tulsa Philharmonic. A cluster of classrooms, flooded with natural light, became the Company's costume workshop with cutting tables, industrial sewing machines and fitting rooms.

The costume area also contains an office for design and wardrobe personnel and a storage area to house the Ballet's 2,300 costumes and about 450 pairs of ballet shoes. Each pair of satin point shoes costs about $55; the company spends about $40,000 on shoes each season. Workshop and storage areas also allow for on-site building of scenic elements and storage of props and equipment.

One of the most valuable advances in professional ballet is the expertise of physical therapists and sports doctors who specialize in dance-related injuries and therapy for recovery. Physical therapists and orthopedic surgeons joined with several equipment vendors to donate equipment for the physical therapy room, including whirlpool, ultrasound unit, treatment table, wall pulley gym, and a Pilate's table. Here dancers will receive high quality preventative and post-injury care on-site.