Repertoire

Ahavah

Ahavah tells a story of hope in the midst of despair.  An imaginative retelling of the story of Jesus’ birth, this production has been running for 18 years, and is now becoming a local Christmas tradition. Ahavah explores the mystery of  Christmas, demonstrating how love can shine brightly even in the darkest of times.  This is a magical show for the whole family that will surely lift your spirit!

Ahavah: The Story of Christmas has become a Christmas tradition for the Shoreline Community for over a decade, and ECB is excited to bring this tradition to the Middletown community. Taking you back in time to experience the astonishing true story behind Christmas, Ahavah is a delight for the whole family. The joy and enchantment of the season are palpable in this telling of a timeless story. Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet and Ekklesia School of Ballet join together once more to present Ahavah.

All the profits from the ballet are donated to the local soup kitchen! 

Body and Land

Body & Land is a four part dance work that follows the path of the four seasons. ECB has worked with local composer, Scott Simonelli who blended his musical composition with that of Vivaldi. Through this combination of modern and classical music, there is a parallel of how the seasons have changed drastically from Vivaldi’s 18th century world to our 21st century reality. Pairing these timelines together helps us recognize the changes in climate that the world is experiencing today. The modern musical interpretation reflects these changes season by season. Winter has sounds of cracking glaciers, Spring calls attention to fierce flooding, Summer depicts destructive forest fires, and Autumn explores turbulent winds and hurricanes. 

The work uses dance - an embodied art form - to compare the effects of climate change on both human bodies and the body of the earth. This work is meant to encourage us to feel these changes on both an intellectual and a visceral level, and also to give voice to the people who are affected most.

Living Stories

A collaborative performance of live music, poetry and dance bringing the stories of displaced youth to life.

Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet created this work with Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and Narratio, a refugee youth organization that supports creative expression for displaced populations. Fellows from the Narratio Fellowship Program tell their stories through poetry set to music by Iraqi composer Ameen Mokdad and visualized through choreography by ECB Artistic Director Elisa Schroth.

The Curve 

Iraqi composer and multi-instrumentalist Ameen Mokdad was trapped in hiding under the brutality of ISIS for two years in Mosul. During that time he survived and told his story by writing an extraordinary repertoire of music… in secret. He arranged it for a collaborative album with Cuatro Puntos Ensemble. It was recorded with Ameen playing violin & various Iraqi percussion instruments, reciting his own Arabic poetry, and singing. These 19 songs form a soundscape that transverses a range of emotions: fear, defeat, hope, and rebirth.

THE CURVE has had live performances around the world since its creation in Mosul, Iraq. The album has enjoyed truly international status, with appearances in films, airtime on NPR, and streaming success that puts it in the top 7% of all albums on Spotify. Now, after battling visa issues for 5 years, Ameen Mokdad joins Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet LIVE AND IN PERSON to tell his story live to American audiences for the first time.

Uncaged

Uncaged: Illuminating female Afghan Artists through music and dance is a project inspired by original artwork created by women working secretly within Afghanistan. A new 25-minute ballet score has been commissioned by Cuatro Puntos from UK composer Sadie Harrison to be performed by the US Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet Company with choreography by Elisa Schroth. The work is based on 5 artworks, which have been procured from within Afghanistan with the help of the Belfast charity Beyond Skin.  In addition, poetry by Afghan women will be read live in Persian with English translations. The project is a multimedia celebration of an extraordinarily rich culture with dancers, artists, poets, and musicians of the highest caliber.