Ballet Magnificat! Presents Prodigal’s Journey

Starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Septem­ber 16, well over 300 people from Austin, Manitoba to Faribault, MN; across the Iron Range and along the North Shore arrived at the Two Harbors High School to watch Bal­let Magnificat! present Prodigal’s Journey, a ballet retelling of the parable of the Prodigal Son. Ballet Magnifi­cat! came to Two Har­bors last year to per­form Deliver Us! (the story of Moses, set to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack), and many attendees were excited to get to see the profes­sional ballet company perform again.

Thanks to a gener­ous grant from Lovin’ Lake County, the tick­ets were made afford­able. Donations were also given by First Baptist Church of Two Harbors, United Prot­estant Church of Silver Bay, and Harbor Insur­ance.

The ballet opened with a first act of a set of more contempo­rary and lyrical-style pieces, called Heaven Come Down, choreo­graphed by Tara Thi­bodeaux Drew. After a 15-minute intermis­sion, during which at­tendees could visit the merchandise table or take photos with the colorful balloon photo prop in the lobby, the ballet resumed with Prodigal’s Journey, choreographed by Jiri Sebastian Voborsky.

Prodigal’s Journey lage, where a father and mother and their two sons live (“Over­ture”, “At the Town Square”). The father teaches Bible classes in the village (“Jericho”), and the classes are well-received. How­ever, the younger son is dissatisfied with the simple village life, and after a fight with his family (“The Fight”) he takes his portion of the inheritance and runs off to the city. His parents are heart­broken (“Prayer”) and light a lantern, hoping that someday their son will return.

In the city, the son wastes his inheri­tance (“Wild Life”) in a quest to find happi­ness, only for every­thing to fall apart when his money runs out. Now destitute, and un­willing to return home (“Life of Sin”), the son finds himself with the other destitute people of the city, trapped in a cycle of brokenness. He gets a job tak­ing care of some pigs (“Pigs Pas de Qua­tre”), but he has no fu­ture (“Hopelessness”). Finally, at his lowest, he picks up a Bible and begins to read (“Salvation”). Upon discovering he can find redemption, the son wonders whether his family will accept him if he returns (“Mercy Found”).

The son travels back to the village (“Return Home”), and his par­ents are overjoyed to welcome him back. Even his older brother finally welcomes him. Glad for the youngest son’s return, the vil­lage celebrates togeth­er (“Celebration”) and rejoices in the son’s second chance (“Sec­ond Chances”).

Besides astounding feats of athleticism ex­hibited in the younger son’s solos and in the pas de deux pieces, other dance styles be­sides classical ballet were on display: jazz, modern, and swing dance each made an

 appearance. The humor­ous “Pigs Pas de Quatre”, involving four very needy pigs, was a highlight for many of the younger audi­ence members.

“We hope they come next year” was a sentiment shared by the Pearce family. Liz Spence, who attended with her husband and chil­dren, remarked that the bal­let was “so beautiful. It was well-choreographed and original. It was nice to see people humbly using their gifts to make the Gospel known.”

The Ballet Magnificat! dancers also taught a bal­let workshop the follow­ing day, September 17th. In preparation to welcome the dancers, some students from Wings of Eagles Bal­let Studio chose a dancer for whom to make a gift bag. Jillian Schneider said, “My girls picked these girls to write letters to and give a goody bag to. [Isabel Harris, one of the dancers] told me, ‘What a sweet idea it was to have a prayer buddy!’ She said she had never heard of a group doing something like that. And they were all touched”.

Young attendee Finland S. said, “I loved those pigs! They were so funny be­ing in love with the guy! I also liked the dance where the angel girl had her flag wings. And I can’t wait to go dance with them today [September 17, at the work­shop]! My dancer [who she made the gift bag for] is my teacher today. She told me.”

Finland’s siblings also had comments on the per­formance. From River – “I loved the pig dance, it was so cute! And I recognized the last song from Veggi­eTales! I’m so excited to dance with them today!”. Little brother Ferran agreed that “the pig dance was fun­ny!”, and sister Akeley con­cluded with, “I liked that my dancer was one of the main dancers. And that she did an amazing lift with one of the boy dancers. I liked that I got to meet her at the end of the dance.”

Another young attendee, Maddie H., said, “The per­formance was so beautiful! I can’t wait to see what the dancers will teach us tomor­row!”

Thank you to Ballet Mag­nificat! for inspiring young dancers and showing the many different facets of professional ballet.