Holt, Mary MargaretSt. John, Christa2021-05-122021-05-122021-05-14https://hdl.handle.net/11244/329522This thesis explores opportunities, challenges, and complexities of choreographing opera by examining the creative process of choreographing two full-length opera productions at the University of Oklahoma, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (October 2019) and Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers (March 2021), under vastly different circumstances. The research period for The Pearl Fishers spanned the time leading up to and amidst the outbreak of COVID-19, which led to a global pandemic that greatly affected daily life in the United States. OU’s production of The Pearl Fishers was conceived and initially choreographed prior to the outbreak of COVID-19; the choreography underwent two substantial revisions as the virus proliferated, resulting in three different versions of the opera which was, in part, choreographed through a combination of rehearsals in-person and via the computer application, Zoom. The outbreak of COVID-19 required the development of new strategies to produce an opera while observing university, local, state, and national COVID-19 safety protocols, which resulted in creating a socially distanced, hybrid digital and live, in-person production of The Pearl Fishers which premiered in March 2021. Choreographing both operas in relatively quick succession under vastly different circumstances highlighted the pandemic’s radical effect on the fields of dance and opera. While the findings are limited in scope, they have broader implications for studying dance and opera together and contribute to the limited scholarly discourse on opera choreography. This thesis offers strategies for choreographing opera productions, sheds light on opera choreographers who, at times, take a subsidiary role for their contributions to the art, and serves as a timely account of the complexities of choreographing an opera production during a global pandemic.Opera ChoreographyDance in OperaOpera Production during a PandemicBallet in The Golden Cockerel and The Pearl Fishers