LIGHT / THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITY PROJECT is a full-length contemporary ballet and Holocaust education partnership that promotes the protection of human rights against bigotry and hate through arts, education, and public dialogue.
The original project was premiered by Ballet Austin in Austin, Texas in 2005, which was replicated in Pittsburgh in 2009 with 21 unique community-based and educational initiatives. LIGHT returned to Austin in 2012 from Martin Luther King Jr. Day through Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day, with events and initiatives led by nearly 50 community partners. In 2013, Ballet Austin brought LIGHT to three cities in Israel: Acco, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.
LIGHT challenges communities to work collaboratively to consider the “difficult knowledge” presented by the Holocaust. Citizens are asked to hold themselves and each other accountable for any act of disregard for human rights and to learn by studying the ethical, historical and representation issues of the Holocaust through public lectures, a production by Ballet Austin, screenings of FINDING LIGHT, as well as in-service training for teachers and other public conversations. In closing, citizens are encouraged to consider how the study of the Holocaust might foster dialogue regarding contemporary issues of genocide, bigotry, and hate.
DANCE PRODUCTION STILLS
How LIGHT has engaged audiences:
• High-profile editorial series addressing the influence of art on social change in the Austin American-Statesman.
• Public lectures series on the Holocaust, representation, and contemporary issues.
• A Professional Development Institute for Teachers (high school and middle school teachers of language arts and social studies).
• The “Coexistence” Exhibition from Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem.
• Elie Wiesel, as the final speaker of the Public Lecture Series in 2005, for area high school and college students; and a return in 2012 for a rare broadcast interview on KLRU-TV’s Overheard with Evan Smith.
• In 2005, a Stephen Mills / Ballet Austin world premiere production entitled LIGHT / THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITY PROJECT performed at Bass Concert Hall and a return in 2012 and 2023 at The Long Center for the Performing Arts.
• A televised town hall meeting at KLRU featuring award-winning correspondent Linda Ellerbee.
• Art exhibits and projects by community partners Mexic-Arte Museum, Theatre Action Project, Blanton Museum of Art, and St. Edwards University.
CHOREOGRAPHER’S STATEMENT
Illuminated through the tragic personal story of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren, the dance takes the audience on a journey that is simultaneously situated in the past while making relevant connections to the present. We watch as a young woman’s journey takes her from the comfort of a loving family with a rich cultural history, to a place of unimaginable degradation and dehumanization.
Historically, the Holocaust stands alone in its depth of destruction. And while the catastrophic loss and suffering of the victims cannot be measured, alarmingly, the history’s underlying narrative – Antisemitism, other-izing, propaganda, poverty, and demonizing of migrants – continues. These issues can only be confronted through dialogue. My hope is that LIGHT / THE HOLOCAUST & HUMANITY PROJECT can encourage community wide conversation.
Stephen Mills • Choreographer
BRING LIGHT TO YOUR COMMUNITY