Promotional banner for Ditty Bops 2025, a Veteran-centered arts performance presented by SPARK! Creative Lab in partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. The illustration shows a collage of Veterans and artists in motion

Ditty Bops 2025 brings Veterans and Artists together in a powerful mosaic of music, movement, film, and country. Created by more than 70 participants through free workshops, the work explores life after service with honesty, vulnerability, and courage. Audiences are invited to move beyond “thank you for your service,” to witness bravery and connection side by side, and to leave with a renewed sense of compassion and belonging.

THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY:

  • Friday, November 7, 7:00 p.m.

  • Saturday, November 8, 7:00 p.m.

  • Sunday, November 9, 2:00 p.m.
    Talkback with Veterans & Artists directly following Sunday’s performance

LOCATION:

Te Ata Theater
Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
11 NW 11th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73103

THREE WAYS TO BUY:

  1. RESERVE IN ADVANCE ONLINE.
    Oklahoma Contemporary Website

  2. In person at Oklahoma Contemporary.
    11 NW 11th Street, OKC 73103

  3. Call Oklahoma Contemporary at
    (405) 951-0000

BUY TICKETS ONLINE

Ditty Bops 2025 began in a room full of Veterans and artists, with a simple idea: make space for authentic expression and collaboration instead of over-simplified explanation. Over months of free, trauma-aware workshops, more than 70 Veterans and artists worked side by side, exploring personal messages through Morse Code, translated into rhythm, text, movement, mask-making, and visual art. Together they built skills, tried new tools, and connected with a sense of belonging and shared purpose inside a creative team.

The performance you will see is the living result of that process. Fourteen artists and Veterans stand shoulder to shoulder to create a non-linear, high-energy collage of music, dance, film, and design. It is a postmodern mosaic of Veteran life across eras and branches. Pride and pain. Isolation and intimacy. Routine and rupture. Humor and heartbreak. The work does not seek to fix, pathologize, or explain — it simply invites us to bear witness, to listen, and to belong to one another a little more than we did the hour before.

The first Ditty Bops (2023) was sparked by USAF Veteran Neil Chapman, a Vietnam-era Morse Code Interceptor who once believed no one would resonate with his story — until audiences responded with overwhelming recognition and care. Neil became the heartbeat of this work, and each new chapter continues in his honor, amplifying the voices of Veterans who, like him, deserve to be heard.

Ditty Bops 2025 is not outreach. It is a return. It is not us and them. It is “US” — Veterans and artists working together, shaping the frame and filling it with care.

Created and presented by SPARK! Creative Lab with generous support from Creative Forces®, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by Mid-America Arts Alliance, and presenting partner Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, with support from American Legion Post 12, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and individual donors. Additional amplification and community partnership provided by VFW Post 7192, the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, and the EagleOps Foundation.

THE ARTISTS OF DITTY BOPS 2025

  • A woman with curly dark hair, wearing a black top, looking at the camera with a soft expression.

    NATASHA ABU FADEL

    DANCE

  • A young man wearing a silver metallic space suit with NASA patches, holding a space helmet with a blue visor, against a plain light blue background.

    ZACHARY BURNS

    FILMMAKER, PRODUCTION MANAGER

  • MARCIA ERMEY

    HERSELF
    U.S. AIR FORCE VETERAN

  • Portrait of a smiling young woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a black top, against a neutral background.

    PAIGE FISCHER

    DANCE

  • A young person smiling, wearing a red uniform with a circular patch featuring a stylized black winged unicorn.

    TESLYN HALL

    PERCUSSION, GUITAR

  • Two men standing next to a large rusted butterfly sculpture outdoors, holding a camera.

    Ryan Johnson

    SINGER, SONGWRITER, MUSICIAN, VISUAL ARTIST, POSTER DESIGN

  • A man taking a selfie in a classroom or activity room, with three children in the background. The room has colorful mats, a bright green wall, and appears to be set up for activities or lessons.

    ANGEL LITTLE

    GRAFFITI + FREESTYLE + ANGEL THINGS
    U.S. Navy Veteran

  • KEVIN JAMISON

    SONGWRITER, MUSICIAN & HIMSELF U.S. Marine Corps Veteran

  • A man with long gray hair and beard wearing glasses, a gray beanie, and over-ear headphones takes a selfie in a room with musical equipment, including a microphone stand and drums in the background.

    JAMES METCALFE

    COMPOSER

  • A man with a beard and long hair wearing a gray 'Willow Ranch' t-shirt and sunglasses standing outdoors against a green wall.

    ZACK MILNER

    VISUAL ARTIST, HIMSELF
    U.S. Navy Veteran

  • A man working at a desk in a workshop, soldering wires on a small electronic device, with tools and electronic components on the workbench and a pegboard with hand tools in the background.

    PEDRO PÉREZ

    SOUND DESIGN | PERCUSSION

  • NICOLE POOLE

    THEATER; HERSELF
    SPARK! Founder & Executive Director

  • A woman with shoulder-length dark hair smiling at the camera, wearing a red top against a gray background.

    HUI CHA POOS

    CHOREOGRAPHY & PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • A man with a beard and cap sitting in front of a wall with intricate black and white maze-like art, wearing a colorful rainbow barcode T-shirt, and making a gesture with his hand.

    TONY TEE AKA DJ NYMASIS

    DJ + FREESTYLE + VOCALS + PERCUSSION

  • Portrait of a smiling man with dreadlocks, wearing a black shirt with a Magellan logo, against a gray background.

    NATE TYLOR

    DANCE

Bringing Stories to Life — Inspiring Action Through Art

Through a powerful, short documentary, live performances, exhibits, and free, Morse Code-infused workshops, SPARK!'s team of professional artists collaborates with Veterans, their families, and caregivers to foster connection and explore creative expression. The Ditty Bops project honors Neil Chapman and all who have served, while collaborating with Veterans from all branches and service eras to develop their unique voice and share their stories with the broader community.

DITTY BOPS: THE ART OF LISTENING (2024)

A Short Documentary by Zachary Burns