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Annual Messiah Performance

Messiah Dancers
Handel’s Messiah is a work that was created in the absence of movement and dance. Ms. Caruso, chair of the Performing Arts Department at La Roche University and artistic director of Bodiography, was driven by the challenge of accentuating and framing one of the world’s most celebrated Baroque oratorios and bringing lovers of ballet and the Messiah together to experience a respectful and awe inspiring non narrative ballet that is focused on lighting the world through love.

“La Roche has always been a place of deep spirituality with a reverence for all cultures and religions while remaining true to its Catholic identity. I plan to showcase the warmth and inclusivity that is ever-present on campus by highlighting a spiritual focus in the work,” Ms. Caruso, said. “Using light and illumination, the work demonstrates the grace and beauty that is found in loving communities of people, in the art that is around us and within us, and the magnificence that we create as human beings when we are gathered together in peace and harmony.”

In addition to creating an independent work of art, Caruso was interested in making a connection between La Roche, its curriculum and the ballet. This notion further propelled her motivation to focus the ballet on lighting the world through love, Ad Lucem per Amorem, which is the motto of La Roche. This investigation of light opened the door for her to discover and learn more about The Saint John’s Bible, the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible to have been commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey since the invention of the printing press. Since 2012, and La Roche’s acquisition of the Heritage Edition, its messages and illuminations have been incorporated into the curriculum and College community. With the assistance of Sister Michele Bisbey, CDP, Ph.D., division chair for Humanities at La Roche and provincial director of the Sisters of Divine Providence, the two selected an illumination titled The Birth of Christ as an inspiration for the ballet.

“The beauty of the illumination provided a wonderful connection between the educational excellence, spirituality, and the hope that the ballet will further promote our capacity to make the world a better place through our individual light and love for human kind,” Caruso, said.

    Handel's Messiah Performance 2016 (You Tube)