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Ballet Austin To Perform In Israel

Updated: Friday, March 9 2012, 06:22 PM CST
By Rob Faubion, Austin On Stage - www.austinonstage.com

Ballet Austin has been invited to bring its critically-acclaimed dance work Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project to Israel for the September 2013 Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre.  Israel's largest performing arts festival, the Acco Festival draws more than 200,000 visitors annually to the ancient walled city of Acco, a UNESCHO World Heritage Site. 

The festival will be held September 21 - 24, 2013, with Ballet Austin invited to perform for three nights during the prestigious event.  Each year, the Acco Festival hosts fringe theatre productions from among the latest, most avant-garde shows worldwide.
    
As one of the most resonant of Ballet Austin works by Artistic Director Stephen Mills, Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project premiered in 2005 and brought national attention to Ballet Austin - with recognition across the country including national reviews and restaging by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2009.  Set to the music of five of the most important living composers, Mills' original choreography turns the spotlight on discrimination and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.
     
"For the past seven years, the opportunity to take Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project to Israel has been our goal," said Cookie Ruiz, Executive Director of Ballet Austin. "The opportunity for the artists of Ballet Austin to bear witness to the survivor experience honored through the work, and to continue our Holocaust education process, remains the focus of the tour."
   
Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project earned Mills the Austin Anti-Defamation League's Audrey & Raymond Maislin Humanitarian Award.
     
"Since the inception of Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project in 2005, it has been a dream that the project would be shared with Israel. Now, this is a dream come true," adds Austin-based Israeli and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) member Lily Saad. "It is a great achievement and opportunity for Ballet Austin and the Israeli community to share the messages of this powerful and relevant experience."
     
Ballet Austin restages Light this month at The Long Center, with performances on March 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. and March 25 at 3 p.m.  The 75-minute ballet is performed without intermission. Tickets range from $15 to $74 and are available by calling (512) 476-2163 or online at www.BalletAustin.org.
    
The staging will be performed as the centerpiece of a community-wide human rights initiative that includes events held by nearly 50 community partners.  For a complete list of all community partner events surrounding Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project, visit online at www.BalletAustin.org/light.
 
(Photo Credits Amitava Sarkar)
Ballet Austin To Perform In Israel