Last night, my lovely bride and I attended the Ballet Magnificat! Omega’s presentation of “Hiding Place”, based on the story of Corrie ten Boom. I was not sure what to expect. This was my first time to see a ballet live. My wife and I dressed up for our evening out. When we arrived at the Civic Center, I was shocked to see people walking up wearing jeans and tee shirts. I thought “this is the ballet, not a Garth Brooks concert.”
Since the radio station I work for was a sponsor of the event, we received free tickets. We all chose the balcony so we could see everything more clearly. Aside from the group of high school kids heckling through the First Act, the seats were very nice. I did feel the middle of the First Act was a bit slow in pace.
The Second Act was longer than the First Act, but the intensity was so great that I was not paying attention to the time. I felt the emotional roller coaster of the story very well. I think Ballet Magnificat! did an incredible job of putting together such a marvelous interpretation of the life of Corrie ten Boom. (For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Corrie ten Boom, I strongly suggest you read “The Hiding Place” … the biography of Corrie ten Boom.)
The performance last night was intense. The reconciliation scene when Corrie embraces “the Snake” was powerful. Years after all the traumatic events, Corrie comes face to face with the person responsible for her sister’s death. This revealed something to me. I had long been holding grievances with people from decades ago.
After only a few moments, I realized that I had dreaded attending my 20 year class reunion a few weeks ago because I had held onto many grievances I had with some of my classmates. What took place 20 plus years ago was amongst a group of rowdy teenagers. Right or Wrong, it took place long ago.
I felt almost silly that I had held onto these feelings for so long. I help train prospective resource parents. Part of the training involves the grieving cycle. If a person does not deal with issues, they get stuck. I had been stuck and did not realize it. I had stored those feelings way in the back of my mind. The 20 year class reunion forced me to re-access those old feelings. God used this ballet performance to “rattle” my memories and to help me realize what I had not done and needed to do. I needed to forgive and move on.
As for the ballet, I want to add this … I was surprised to have an “alter call” at the end of the performance. I was not sure how people would respond to it. Some did leave all together. However, after a short time, many people responded by going forward to pray with someone. During this time, the music that was being played was some truly marvelous praise music. There were many people standing up, with arms raised high and singing along. It felt like I was at my church on Sunday morning during our Praise time. It was wonderful.
The ballet troupe returned to the stage for the final praise and celebration number. I could not help but notice that one was not on stage because she was still on the floor praying with a young girl. I was impressed with how well the troupe performed with the missing person. I was also impressed that they did not attempt to interrupt the one praying.
All the way around and a few rambles later, I strongly recommend this ballet performance! It was marvelous. I am attaching the link to their website along with the link to the video preview of the ballet itself. Enjoy …
Ballet Magnificat! Website
Hiding Place Promo Video
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