Light/ The Holocaust and Humanity Project

Over the summer some friends in the ward contacted Sharon about going in together on season tickets for the Pittsburgh Ballet. The idea was that they would buy one set of season tickets and each person would choose one performance they wanted to see. It worked out that they all wanted to see different performances. We jumped on the opportunity to see Light / The Holocaust and Humanity Project. This ballet was created at Ballet Austin by the artistic director Stephen Mills.

Background: I guess the guy in charge of the Holocaust Museum in Pittsburgh and the director of the Pittsburgh Ballet talked about doing something around the Holocaust, one thing led to another and Stephen Mills from the Austin Ballet ended up coming and helping produce Light with the Pittsburgh Ballet. It makes sense to have a project like this in Pittsburgh where there is a fairly large Jewish community.

The Ballet: The ballet was divided in seven sections: Adam and Eve, Family, Target Behind Doors, Isolation and Degradation, Boxcar, Ashes, and Hush. Each section had its own piece of music and was contributed from five different composers. It was amazing how it came together and flowed.

Thoughts:

• I was thinking this could be really cool, or it would be really lame. Lucky for us, it was really cool.
• One thing that struck me as we were waiting for the program to start was that it really took a step back and started from the beginning creating the base that we are all brothers and sisters experiencing the World.
• The dancing was beautiful and very artistic.
• As the name suggests, light played a huge role and I really liked that. It was used not only to create mood, but added to the story serving as a driver to the plot as well as creating scenery.
• My favorite section was the ashes section. The choreography was beautifully danced, combined with a great score and dramatic lighting, it proved to be very moving.
• It was interesting that most of the sections were danced in customes that made the dancers appear nude. There was really only one section where they had clothes on, but at the end of that section they striped and the next section was danced as if they were in their undergarments. Some might find this distracting, but I thought it added to the dramatic effect and really helped focus attention on the human and suffering side of the holocaust.
• I really liked that no where in the ballet were the oppressors represented. None of the dancers were dressed in Nazi uniforms, swastikas, or anything else like that. It seemed to be more focused on the inner feelings and human sufferings experienced.

So, those are some of my thoughts. If this is ever performed in a ballet near you, I highly recommend it. I've embedded the ad PBT (Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre) had on youTube and a slideshow so you can get an idea of what it was like.