This weekend, Ballet RI will perform a program called “In Motion” with three shorter ballets, including the world premiere of “Nachtigal” based on the story of Holocaust survivor Anka Nachtigal. The new ballet came from a collaboration with the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center. Ocean State Media executive producer James Baumgartner talked with Ballet RI’s executive artistic director Kathleen Breen Combes and resident choreographer Yury Yanowsky, as well as Lilliane Birch, the daughter of Anka Nachtigal. Birch is a speaker for the Sandra Bornstein Center and often shares her mother’s story with young people to keep it alive.
In Motion from Ballet RI
When: Oct. 23, 7:00 p.m.; Oct. 24, 1:30 & 7:00 p.m.; Oct. 25, 1:30 p.m.
Where: Woodman Center at Moses Brown School, Providence
Additional performance on Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. at United Theatre, Westerly
Interview highlights:
Anka Nachtigal’s story as told by her daughter:
Lilliane Birch: She was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1918. When she was in high school, she befriended a young woman named Marika who was being bullied, and for the rest of high school, (she) kind of took her under her wing, which is critically important because several years later, after having lost most of her family already to the German invasion, she is arrested along with her oldest sister and her brother-in-law and sent to Auschwitz. And the three of them are put in the line to die, which means they were going to go to the gas chambers, and then their bodies would be taken to the crematorium.
But as they were being marched towards the gas chambers, they passed by a woman who was giving out the striped pajamas that the prisoners were made to wear. And this woman looked up in just the last minute and said, "Anka, is that you?" And it was Marika from high school who said, "You were the only person who was kind to me in school, and I will not let you die." And she grabbed my mother's arm and pulled her into the line for the living. And my mom grabbed my aunt, grabbed my uncle, and their three lives were saved. But life in Auschwitz was a pretty horrendous experience. She was liberated on January 27, 1945, which was her 27th birthday. She was 80 pounds. She had tuberculosis. She was very, very sick, but she had lived.
Adapting the story as a ballet:
Yury Yanowsky: This is part of a triple bill. So it's hard how you tell a story in 20 minutes. It's not like a full-length ballet that you have time to explain and everything. So I was just trying to get through the points of the story. The story is more about the mother and them just doing these little vignettes while they're dancing, so you sort of can understand what's happening. I think it was one of the hardest ballets that I’ve ever done, just to adapt it. And emotionally too. It was extremely emotional every time, how to approach it.
How the collaboration with the Sandra Bornstein Center came together:
Kathleen Breen Combes: We did a partnership with the Westerly Museum of American Impressionism last year. And during the first show, a woman approached me during intermission, and she said, "I work for the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center. Would you ever consider partnering with us?" And I was like, "Absolutely. I'm of the belief rising tides lift all ships. We should absolutely be partnering with each other and telling these stories." And we had a conversation with their executive director, Wendy Joering, and talked about what a potential partnership could look like. And at that point, they introduced us to the extraordinary story of Lilliane's mother, and we were captivated from the very beginning. And I think we found that if we could do something that honored her story and had a substance and did it in partnership with the education center, we felt confident that we could make a ballet that spoke to people.
What it’s like to see her mother’s story on stage adapted for dance:
Birch: It's amazing. I've watched the rehearsal twice, and I'm just filled to overflowing. It's so beautiful, and it's so meaningful. And my parents were afraid at the end of their lives that what happened to them and to all the other Holocaust survivors would be forgotten. And to have it remembered like this is just beyond my wildest dreams.
Ballet RI is a business supporter of Ocean State Media. Coverage and editorial decisions are made independently of business support.
