In January we ordered tickets for a performance of Ballet Magnificat’s “Deliver Us,” being performed in Bath, NY.  Despite the overwhelming grief in our hearts we made the 60 mile trek south to the show.  Wow. 
It was beautiful. 
I won’t pretend it wasn’t painfully hard to be there for something indulgent while my heart was breaking.  There were moments of anguish.  But juxtaposed against the beauty of the ballet and the joy in my kids’ eyes it at least allowed me to feel a full range of emotions in one evening.

I wish I could share all the photos.

It started with dinner.

And DESSERT.

The whole meal was Stewart-safe which is a tremendous blessing in and of itself.

The performance started with five praise and worship songs.  The tears streamed freely down my face throughout this portion.  It was so beautiful.

We spent intermission outside in the 70-plus weather.  We tried for a lousy picture [Hanny wasn’t there anyway – she slept over with Nanny.]  And watched the kids try a few ballet moves of their own.

Then the Deliver Us/Moses story.  The soundtrack from The Prince of Egypt, one of our favorite family movies, provided the storyline and music.  It was OUTSTANDING.  I do admit knowledge of the Dreamworks movie would help with following the story some.  But it was clearly the story of Moses from the book of Exodus.  The interpretations were fascinating.  The burning bush was depicted by a woman dancing.  The way they showed the plagues and back-and-forth of Pharaoh and Moses was remarkable.  It was just awesome, really.

Then it morphed into THE Deliverer and depicted the sacrifice of Christ in much the same way our Passion Play will be. 

We got to meet a few dancers and the headed home for a just-before-midnight-bedtime.

I wish I could have taken everyone I know.  It was just that good.
This is from You-Tube.  Not as good a video as I would like to see… but it gives an idea.