Wahzhazhe, An Osage Ballet

The Osage tribe is a vibrant nation with a long, storied history. That past and its present are expressed in dance when Wahzhazhe, An Osage Ballet plays in Tulsa and Bartlesville. Produced by Osage descendent Randy Tinker Smith in partnership with the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, Wahzhazhe, pronounced with emphasis on the middle syllable (“-zhaw-”), shares the people’s history and identity from historic homelands in Kentucky to the present. A ballet about the Osage would be incomplete, indeed, without tribute to Maria and Marjorie Tallchief, Osage sisters who became two of the world’s greatest ballerinas. The ballet, which premiered in 2012, was presented at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., in March. It next plays at the Bartlesville Community Center, 300 S.E. Adams Blvd, Bartlesville, at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9-10 and 2 p.m. Aug. 11. Tickets are $12-$18, available at www.bartlesvillecommunitycenter.com. The ballet moves to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center the following weekend with shows at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16-17 and 2 p.m. Aug. 18. Tickets are $12-$18, available at www.myticketoffice.com.