Why Everyone Should Watch Butterfly
Let Us Never Forget
In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, Julianna Rubio Slager's acclaimed ballet Butterfly is available for online viewing on a pay-what-you-can-basis through February 5, 2023. Click here to watch Butterfly online.
We asked Company Artist Laura Peterman Willis to share her thoughts on Butterfly. Here’s what she had to say:
I was a part of the original cast of Butterfly when it premiered in 2019. While it is one of the most heart-wrenching ballets I've ever performed, it is also one of my favorites. The ballet follows the stories of Holocaust survivors in the Terezin ghetto. Julianna Rubio Slager's choreography brings the life of Helga Weiss and her community to life in a tender, heartfelt, and authentic way. I danced the part of a young newlywed separated from her husband. There is a moment of joy when they are reunited in the camp, but sadly their story ends in tragedy and she dies of hunger and disease just before the war ends. Every time I danced that pas de deux, I tried to dance it in memory and respect of all the people who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
During the choreographic process of this ballet, we read I Never Saw Another Butterfly. The artwork of the children spoke to their hope and their resilience. Processing their untimely deaths was a haunting reminder that we must fight for the voiceless and the marginalized. It was important to us to learn the stories of those imprisoned in the Terezin Ghetto, honor their lives, and be inspired by their art. There were many tearful runs of the ballet; and while it is not uncommon for classical ballets to end in tragedy, it is an entirely different thing to tell the story of a true tragedy on stage.
There's something incredibly special about the way art brings people together and inspires hope. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis is a teacher who uses art as a way to help the children of Terezin process the atrocities they are experiencing. She is largely credited as one of the early pioneers of art therapy. Interestingly, Butterfly is one of the last ballets we performed before the Covid-19 pandemic, during which I saw once again how art could heal, and help people find hope and community through difficult circumstances.
Butterfly touched my heart, and the hearts of every artist on that stage. The ballet tells the important message that each person is precious and created with purpose. I recommend that everyone see Butterfly at least once and let the message of this powerful ballet inspire us to treat each other with love and compassion.