Rachel Starr Thomson

If you wished you could see what we were doing in the Maritimes …

Now you can! Soli Deo Gloria Ballet toured our twenty-minute piece “A Celtic Prayer” in New Brunswick, Novia Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Our hosts in New Minas, Nova Scotia, filmed it and posted it on YouTube. (I’m the tall one in the green dress who does all the talking.) I hope you enjoy!

One of the greatest things about truly classic stories is how well they lend themselves to being interpreted in more than one art form.  With every new form, artists can explore and enhance the themes of the story and communicate them to audiences in powerful new ways.

Right now, my days are doubly busy because I’m working to bring a classic true story to the Niagara region in the form of a ballet. The story is The Hiding Place, and in its own way, you could say the tale of Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom’s journey into the darkest places of the Holocaust is a reinterpretation, too — it’s a 20th century look at God’s age-old story of love, hope, and redemption in the midst of man’s greatest darkness.

The Hiding Place was written by Corrie Ten Boom in the early 70s. Since then, it has been made into a movie, performed as a play, and now given as a ballet. With its power to celebrate, mourn, and worship, I find dance an especially potent art form in which to convey such a heartrendingly, humbly awesome story.

Have a look at the event Web site to see what we’re doing to bring this story to Niagara (and if you’d like to help, you can donate or even buy tickets — we’d love to see you there!).

Coming next week — I’ll be looking at another reinterpretation of an old, old story: the tale of Arthur, king of the Britons, as told by Burns Family Studios. Pendragon is one of the most ambitious independent Christian films to date, and it was produced by a pair of homeschool families with the help of many an independent young creative like you and me. I plan to watch Pendragon with my own family tonight, and along with my review, I’ll be conducting an interview with Marilyn Burns. I’m excited!

Good Monday! Yesterday at noon I stepped off a plane onto the tarmac in Jackson, Mississippi. It was over 60 degrees, sunny, and utterly gorgeous. We are ruined for February back in Ontario, where the only thing covering the ice is the abundance of snowdrifts.

Carolyn and I are here in Jackson visiting our friend Naomi, who dances with Ballet Magnificat, a professional Christian dance organization with two touring companies and several trainee groups. We’re staying in a house with Naomi and a posse of other dancers. Today we get to go over to Ballet Mag and do our favourite things — Carolyn dance, and I watch dance :). We’re also hoping to talk with some of the leadership and see what we can learn for our own company.

So far this is a wonderful place, both in sunny weather and in spirit. Tomorrow, we’re back to our regularly scheduled writerly programming, with a writing tip about culture and dialogue. See you then!