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Norman officials seek federal funding to restore damaged bridges, create pedestrian-friendly city

Cleveland County Jail introduces new heart monitoring technology to help prevent in-custody deaths

OU College of Architecture dean recognized by American Institute of Architects

Former Norman Public Schools teacher runs against incumbent for Norman School Board seat

OU students reflect on study abroad experiences during pandemic

The first ballet showcases the faces and hands of the dancers as they are illuminated by a thin ray of light in the back of the stage, while a soloist expresses herself through dancing center-stage.  

Falling Angels, the first piece of the Oklahoma Festival Ballet performed by the University of Oklahoma’s School of Dance, is a “masterpiece” by the world-renowned choreographer Jiří Kylián, Assistant Professor and choreographer Boyko Dossev said. 

Dossev said the second piece, Strand, is a beautiful and emotional work by choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams. Strand is modern, contemporary, and smaller in scale than Dossev’s Sleeping Beauty.  

Williams said her piece had an “abstract theme” and a creation process that allowed the dancers to inspire her with their connections and chemistry. She described Strand as “a stew of a lot of ingredients that bubble up, then you throw in experiential filters on it, and that’s what comes out.” 

Junior ballet pedagogy major Alayna Wong said Williams was an “interactive” choreographer who personalized the choreography to match the dancers’ capabilities. Wong said Strand presents a good contrast to the other two pieces. 

Sophomore modern dance performance major Hunter Sheehan said Williams encourages the dancers to be motivated for each movement to make it feel authentic, while Dossev’s choreography is more “placed.”  

“With Sleeping Beauty, it’s very clean-cut, black and white,” Sheehan said about Dossev’s style. “While Robyn has the shades of gray.”  

Act III of Sleeping Beauty, the third and final piece, features a different kind of storytelling by Dossev, he said. Sleeping Beauty is a classical work which involves most of the dance company.  

“As I set, restaged, and choreographed Sleeping Beauty, I was reminded of classical ballet’s colossal demands and expectations,” Dossev said. “The dancers need to be in top technical condition; the set and scenery cannot be simple, and our costumes are over 30 beautiful handmade exquisite pieces.”  

Dossev said Sleeping Beauty and Strand were different in their styles of choreography. The two pieces complement each other in that they are different in the number of performers, length, and story, he said. 

Sheehan said Strand is about the freedom of movement while Sleeping Beauty is technical. “Falling Angels is the perfect combination of the two because the drums’ harsh rhythms allow the dancers to be free and lost in the movement.” 

According to Sheehan, Kylián sent a message to the dancers saying Falling Angels is a symbol of strife between belonging and independence. 

Dossev said the casting process is different every year. “We try to give equal opportunity to all dancers to experience a diverse repertory.” 

Williams said they started the casting process with about 40 dancers. Needing to narrow her search down to ten dancers, she said she factored in who was already performing in one of the other two pieces, as well as the dancers’ openness to collaborate and try new things. 

Wong said there were three rounds of callbacks and cuts before final decisions were made for casting Falling Angels. There were 24 students selected to perform between the three pieces, she said. 

“I’ve been pushed in my technique and pushed in what I thought I could do,” Wong said. Having performed in the previous two years of the Oklahoma Festival Ballet, Wong said this year had a special impact on her. 

Dossev said this year’s experience reminded him of how classical ballet can make dancers stronger and fully rounded artists.  

“Classical ballet brings excitement and joy to audiences of all ages and backgrounds,” Dossev said.  

Dossev said the Oklahoma Festival Ballet is an opportunity for the audience to experience the world’s best dance pieces performed by talented dancers.  

A love for Oklahoma and its “beautiful people” inspired an Ethiopian woman to open the state’s first Ethiopian restaurant, featuring traditional dining and community eating.

Queen of Sheba’s owner Mimi Younis said she was born in Ethiopia, but lived in the U.S. for most of her life. Her family resided in Florida until a visit to Oklahoma surpassed Younis’ expectations and led to her opening the restaurant 16 years ago.

“(Oklahoma) just blew my mind,” Younis said. “It’s a great state. There’s beautiful people here.”

She said she moved her family from Florida in 2005 after visiting her uncle in Oklahoma, where she came up with the idea to bring something “new” and “different” to the state of Oklahoma.

While the outside of the restaurant blends in with the other stores in the shopping center, the inside displays unique Ethiopian culture showcased throughout the entirety of the lobby. The Ethiopian alphabet, accounts of the culture’s history, flags and artifacts are all displayed on the walls of the restaurant. 

Queen of Sheba is open three days a week due to the restaurant’s limited number of staff members. Guests can enjoy an Ethiopian meal on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4-9:30 p.m. Outside of their hours, the restaurant caters for events such as weddings. 

The restaurant has a selection of three meat dishes and five vegetarian dishes, restaurant manager Ermias Wondimu said. The restaurant gives suggestions to first-time guests who have never experienced Ethiopian cuisine before.  

“Our (dining style) is completely different than the rest of the world has, never ever seen before,” Younis said. “Except in Ethiopia, this is the way we eat.” 

Guests at Queen of Sheba adopt the Ethiopian culture by dining as a community, eating with their hands and sharing food, plates and cultures with each other, Younis said. 

“It’s a hidden treasure place. You sit together, you share your food together,” Younis said. “It’s a community and it’s a very good experience.” 

Younis said the restaurant makes teff, the smallest grain in the world, and a sourdough flatbread called injera. No other restaurant in Oklahoma makes injera bread.  

According to their menu, appetizers include sambusa and categna, a spicy injera. For entrées, the restaurant offers a selection of fish, chicken, lamb and beef. 

Queen of Sheba continues to instill its cultural roots by holding coffee ceremonies where guests can opt to sit and enjoy three rounds of Ethiopian coffee, Younis said. The coffee is different from American coffee and is made from scratch. The use of older culture makes for a good experience in the restaurant’s dining, she said. 

Next to the entrance of the restaurant is a roped-off area with a low table and two stools designed with cultural illustrations, used for the coffee ceremonies. 

Younis said she runs her restaurant like a “Mom and Pop” with her husband Solomon Younis. She prefers to keep the staff at the restaurant “tight” and limited to family and friends.

Wondimu said he was a student at Oklahoma State University when he met Younis while searching for a venue to play reggae and Afro-Caribbean music.  

“Even though the restaurant itself is trying to portray a traditional way of dining in Ethiopia, we want to touch on the modern side of the (United States) as well as the traditional,” Wondimu said. 

Wondimu said the customers kept the business open after COVID-19 by going out of their way to support the business throughout the pandemic. Unlike other businesses during the pandemic, Queen of Sheba did not face a loss of business due to limited hours, small staff and high demand for their unique dishes. 

“The greatest thing about this restaurant is that we have very loyal, good customers. They want us to stay here and keep on going, so we have a support group,” Younis said. “See, a lot of people, they want us to stay. They don’t want us to go away. With the good folks like that, we’re still here and kicking it.”  

Regular customer Marcus Muse said he has been visiting Queen of Sheba for seven years. His favorite part about Queen of Sheba is the family aspect and being encouraged to learn Ethiopian phrases during the dining experience, he said. 

“The platters are set up for multiple people and you are encouraged to eat with your hands,” Muse said. “That’s just the cultural way of doing things and they kind of bring that into the United States. That’s totally different from anywhere that you might go to in the city.”

Muse said he appreciated the restaurant’s respect for culture. The staff is welcoming to everyone, especially to African Americans who want to connect with their African heritage, he said.  

“It breaks you out of the norm and gets you into a new experience,” Muse said. 

Younis said Queen of Sheba relies on word of mouth rather than advertising, but still receives recognition from numerous magazines such as The Oklahoma Gazette. 

“It’s not always about the food, it is always about the culture and what brought it together to the people,” Younis said. 

Co-editor of “Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career” Rafael Jaen, costume designer and University of Massachusetts Boston associate professor of theatre arts, said his curiosity of others’ experiences in stage management stemmed from collaborations with actors, stage managers, puppet makers and prop masters. 

Jaen said the process of choosing the contributors’ experiences consisted of “sifting” through proposals and deciding which were “viable” to consider. 

“By producing books where people can write essays and speak with their voice about their experience, that’s sort of immediate and it’s very relatable,” Jaen said. “It’s not one singular perception. It’s really a more complex world that makes theatre and performing arts happen.”

Co-editor Christopher Sadler, associate professor of stage and theatre management at the University of Oklahoma, said he wanted to share his experience with the world to help other stage managers and educators. He said a major aspect of stage management includes utilizing transferable skills such as leadership. 

Sadler provided different perspectives of stage management through the experiences of several contributors in “Off Headset.”

Sadler said he met Jaen at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 2013. He proposed the idea of the book to Jaen in 2018, he said.

Sadler said the contract for the book was signed by him and Jaen in 2019, and the book was published in January 2022 as the second installment of Jaen’s three-book Backstage Series about stage management. Jaen’s first book, “Theatre Artisans and Their Craft: The Allied Arts Fields,” is about scenic painting, missionary work and custom construction. 

“Off Headset” features a collection of essays written by stage managers from across the country. Sadler said the essays vary from detailing opera stage management, motherhood in the industry, a day in the life on a cruise ship, and balancing personal lives and the profession. 

“About 90 percent of the work of stage management is working with people, leading people, leading a team, being part of a team,” Sadler said.

Equity stage manager Kristi Ross-Clausen contributed to the book with a chapter about touring theatre. She said she encourages people to travel and tour shows for the special opportunity despite the physical commitment and long hours.

“Touring theatre is a very unique world,” Ross-Clausen said. “It takes a lot of stamina and personal fortitude to be able to handle the rigors of touring.”

Production manager and equity stage manager Jay Sheehan’s chapter focused on perseverance and resilience in the face of mistakes. Sheehan said he made a crucial error by turning the lights on too early at The Rolling Stones’ concert in 1994, but learned a significant lesson from the experience. 

“It was about fighting back. It was about finding your courage, and not being afraid to make mistakes and learn from them,” Sheehan said. “That’s how we really learn, is by making some errors.

Jaen and Sadler’s “Off Headset” contains a plethora of experiences in stage management, ranging from Ross-Clausen’s tours to Sheehan’s lesson. 

“Off Headset” is available to be purchased in paperback, hardback and ebook form from publisher Routledge Press or from Amazon.

Senior Sarah Santamaria arrived at rehearsal as the fairies and mechanicals practiced their scenes. She watched as the actors jumped on each other, ripped one another off, and utilized physical interactions to lighten the mood of the play. Santamaria listened as Shakespeare’s lines were embedded with obscure jokes and old-fashioned humor.

OU University Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream to combat the effects of COVID-19 with a comedy, which will be open to viewers from Feb. 25 to March 6.   

The play centers around several lovers and conflicts. One lover, Hermia, is played by senior Lanee Starr, who described the play as “lighthearted, fun, and entertaining.” 

According to Starr, the play’s “over-the-top dramatics” creates a silly tone for viewers to enjoy.

“The process overall has been more open-minded,” Starr said. “The director, Judith Pender, she’s very open to any and all ideas.”

Judith Pender, Performance Area Coordinator of the Helmerich School of Drama, is directing Shakespeare’s play as part of the university’s educational mission to perform a Shakespeare play.

“We also take our audience into consideration,” Pender said. “What we think will make the audience happy right at this time, is a little humor in our lives. It’s a delightful crazy romp.”

Santamaria, who plays a traditionally male Lysander, said the comedy relied on physical interactions between characters. 

“It’s really goofy and physical, and that’s the kind of comedy that I have a lot of fun with,” Santamaria said. “The physical elements that we’ve incorporated helped to aid the understanding of the play further than what the words are saying.”

Santamaria said the play was one of her favorite comedies by Shakespeare. 

“There are definitely a lot of lighthearted and comedic elements to the show,” Santamaria said. “We’ve done a pretty good job of still trying to create this other world where these goofy things happen.”

According to Starr, the stage allowed for the actors to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

“With the director’s style and how big the stage is, she always wants there to be space with us,” Starr said. “It just so happens that it also works with COVID.” 

Sophomore PK Kaya, who plays Tom Snout, said the set was crucial to the storyline.

“The set has its own little character progression throughout the show,” Kaya said. “It starts out one way, and then it meshes a mold while the characters interact with it.”

While the set allowed the actors to socially distance during the performance, everybody in the cast still received the COVID-19 vaccine, Pender said.

“Being vaccinated is important to everybody in this profession,” Pender said. “It was something that everybody embraced completely.”

Kaya said the rehearsal process called for hard work and investment in order to create a production that contrasted the pandemic.

“Come see Midsummer not only because it’s a little escape, but because the lightheartedness speaks to something about what we’re all going through,” Kaya said. “We’re still working to put our vision out there and change our little corner of this world.”