Eden

Ballet 5:8 Aritistic Director Julianna Slager 2016 Premier Eden

“...But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells...”

— 2 Peter 3:13

Eden is a neoclassical ballet that reflects on the story of creation as set in motion by the Master Creator, painting a living, moving picture of the first seven days of the existence of our world. The work invites audiences to experience a visualization of these first six days, as the Creator formed each element of the solar system, nature, and finally, shaped humankind out of the dust, breathed life into the first man and the first woman, and said that it was good. On the seventh day, the work envisions a fully completed rest: a glimpse of a future day in the New Jerusalem, the dwelling place of the Creator's presence in the new heaven and new earth, as foretold in Scripture.

Background

Eden, like many of Julianna Slager's works, takes advantage of the idea that sometimes, it can a powerful experience to see a story that we only otherwise read about. Certainly, many of us have read about the events recorded in Scripture, like the creation of the world. The question is, since when have you sit back and really imagined what it would have looked like? Have you reflected on the beauty to be had in this story? 

There are many deep truths to be found in that first week. By going back to the beginning, we find ourselves able to imagine and see the world untouched by sin, a picture of the perfection God created, before the fall of man. As look at the beauty of the world in its unstained form, we can reflect on the goodness of the Creator's original design for the earth, the animals, and humankind. Finally, the end of the ballet brings us forward, full-circle, to a picture of the New Earth, where we will finally not just imagine but experience that perfection that we only crave here on earth! On that day, we will be able to witness the Creator and our Lord saying: "it is good."

Premiere: February, 2016
Choreography: Julianna Slager
Costumes: Lorianne Robertson
Length: 30 Minutes