The Life Ballet

Artist Information

Biography

VISIT www.thelifeballet.org for more information and for a complete listing of upcoming events.

One in three women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. Once a woman has one abortion and the spirit of death enters her soul, she is likely to go on and have two to five more. These numbers are not exempt in "the church." One in four pregnancies end in abortion. The highest percentage of abortions are for women who are in their late teens and early 20s. One in five college students will have an abortion. Nearly 4000 human beings in the United States alone die every day at the hand of abortion. We can no longer find peace with the killing.

The Life Ballet is a show written from the perspective of a woman who had made the choice of abortion. The heart of the show is to educate audiences of the important side of the story that is not widely shared until recent years with the coming of age of a generation of men and women who were told their babies were just a "blob of flesh." The Life Ballet shows through dance, artistry and original songs a story of how destinies were lost through abortion – that of two unborn children and also their mother. The audience sees how abortion alters the dances of our mother, whose name is Sarah, as she moves through innocence, deception, seduction, decision and death. The aftermath of abortion leaves her in a dance of a new kind, one tormented by the silence of shame. Watch as she grieves and mourns the loss of her unborn children, then watch as she discovers healing. As for the unborn children, whose names are Seraphina and Simon, well…..we’ll never know what could have been. They never had the chance to dance, at least not on this earth. This show is dedicated to them and to all the other children whose destinies have been lost from abortion.

The Life Ballet was written and created by Sandy Arena, a woman who had two abortions she deeply regrets when she was a young adult. Arena has had the opportunity to memorialize their lives and share this story with the family she now has including her husband Sam, and children Alexis, Caleb and Annaliese. You can read her full testimony at: http://www.yahwehballet.org/TESTIMONY.html

Many of the performers and contributing artists have had abortions or are siblings of aborted children, as well, making this a collaboration of children, teenagers, men and women devoted to telling the truth of abortion to the generation behind. If abortion is still available legally, our fight is to make it unthinkable.

The Yahweh Ballet dance company is based in Rochester, NY and in addition to performing The Life Ballet, they perform other faith-based ballets including Creation, Shattered Glass Slippers (about human trafficking), Amanda Rose (a show about grief) and Savior, their annual Christmas production. Recently, they are working on a ballet about homelessness called 5869 Isaiah Street, based on the scripture Isaiah 58:6-9. Dancers receive dance education of excellence throughout the year at Mossa School of Dance, a ballet studio owned by Arena's oldest daughter Alexis Gaetano who is also the choreographer and a performer in The Life Ballet.

“I was thrilled by the ballet presented at Bethel this evening. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to see the phenomenal and moving performance you and the dancers put to exceptionally well-matched music. The ballet, to me, is so unique a statement on abortion that I think it should be done as widely as possible,” said Gerry Oftedahl, President of the Board of Directors of Adult Stem Cell Initiative Inc., and a member of the Diocese of Rochester Policy and Planning Committee.

"The Life Ballet is a beautiful and very modern way to bring across the message of Life and abortion. The story presented by this group is heart changing and breaks down the walls of shame, guilt and hate by being a personal story of love and forgiveness." Pastor Ralph Molyneux, Victory Church Lethbridge, Canada.

Instrumentation

Sandy Arena - Writer, Founder
Sam Arena - Business Manager
Alexis Gaetano - Choreographer, Featured Performer
Lang Bliss/Dif. World Prod. - Music Director
Annaliese and Caleb Arena - Performers
The Moore Family - Performers
Olivia Glover - Featured Performer
Dylan MacIntyre - Featured Performer
Michelle Pauly - Featured Performer
Abbey Wilson - Featured Performer
Rachel Urban - Featured Performer

Discography

The Life Ballet Original Music

Destinies Lost
Song of the Unborn Babies
What Kind of Mother Does That?
Anna's Lullaby
The King Is Enthralled With Your Beauty
Unsung
Arise Sweet Sarah
Have Mercy on This Woman
Dream On
I Feel Your Hand Upon My Back

Official Website

http://www.thelifeballet.org

Links

• Facebook
• The Life Ballet Website
• Photo Gallery
• The Life Ballet YouTube
• Vimeo
• Junior's Cave Magazine Online Interview

Audio

• What Kind of Mother Does That
  Listen  
• Dance of Decision
  Listen  
• Death March INSIDE
  Listen  
• Silent Scream
  Listen  
• Silence of Shame
  Listen  
• Destinies Lost - Anna's Lullaby
  Listen  
• We Forgive You
  Listen  
• Still
  Listen  

Lyrics

• What Kind of Mother Does That?
• Destinies Lost/Anna's Lullaby
• Have Mercy on This Woman
• Arise Sweet Sarah

Video

Dance of the Silent Scream

Dance of Decision

Photo Gallery

Press

• Show Testimony [+ Show ]
  

  Your program was so spirit filled and absolutely beautiful and filled with the love of God. I don't ...Your program was so spirit filled and absolutely beautiful and filled with the love of God. I don't have words to do it justice.
  
  Your story is beautiful and full of truth and love- My favorite parts were seeing the way evil was enticing and overcoming, the beauty in all the performers especially those who played Sarah, the way the children are united and dancing with Jesus and how it's a celebration of life, love and forgiveness in the end (especially with the "abortion provider" performers). It really is a gift.
  
  · Peace and Blessings to you and your family! And your family of performers as well!
  
  

• Letter of Recommendation from Victory Church, Lethbridge, Canada [+ Show ]
  

  To whom it may concern, We recently had The Life Ballet perform at our church. I was very please...To whom it may concern,
  
  We recently had The Life Ballet perform at our church. I was very pleased with the way dance was used to tell a very difficult story. I feel using something as beautiful and cultural as ballet was brilliant as well as the fact that it was a personal story made it all the more meaningful. The team was very professional, talented and organized. The way they trained people from our church to be a part of the cast helped us to feel that is wasn’t just a show but a great opportunity to participate with very talented dancers. Something I know our kids and families will remember for a long time.
  
  The Life Ballet is a beautiful and modern way to clearly bring across the message of Life and abortion. The story presented by this group is heart changing and breaks down the walls of shame, guilt and hate by being a personal story of love and forgiveness.
  
  Pastor Ralph Molyneux
  Victory Church Lethbridge
  www.victorylethbridge.ca
  403-320-1565
  

• Roasted and Toasted [+ Show ]
  

  TOAST: To the Pro- Life ballet production that was hosted by the Victory Church. It was a very excel...TOAST: To the Pro- Life ballet production that was hosted by the Victory Church. It was a very excellent and touching production.

• The Life Ballet Recommendations [+ Show ]
  

  “I was thrilled by the ballet presented at Bethel this evening. I am so glad to have had the oppo... “I was thrilled by the ballet presented at Bethel this evening. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to see the phenomenal and moving performance you and the dancers put to exceptionally well matched music….The ballet, to me, is so unique a statement on abortion that I think it should be done as widely as possible. “
  
  Gerry Oftedahl, President of the Board of Directors of Adult Stem Cell Initiative, Inc., and a member of the Diocese of Rochester Policy and Planning Committee
  
  
  “Yahweh Ballet’s newest production presents through the arts something that can be difficult to convey in mere words. The combination of music, dance, and short monologues helps us to see that abortion is a tragic effort to do right that turns out to be harmful, harmful not just to the helpless unborn child and his or her mother, but also to family and friends. However, the same arts show the healing, hope, and freedom that can be re-attained through the power of love. Kudos to Yahweh Ballet!”
  
  Anne LeBlanc, President, Rochester Area Right to Life
  
  
  “Their performances are very moving and meaningful.”
  
  Jose Rivera, Campaign Coordinator, 40 Days for Life – Rochester
  
  
  “The artistic presentation honoring life and bringing healing to men and women affected by abortion featuring the Yahweh Ballet ... was powerfully moving and healing for me, a woman who has had an abortion. It is truly a tribute to our babies and all children stolen by abortion. It provided another layer of healing by cutting through the walls I put up after my abortion, by allowing me to experience God’s intimate love and desire for me through the grace and beauty of song and dance. A must see for any woman touched by abortion.”
  
  Kathy Cosgrove, Coordinator, Silent No More Rochester
  
  “Just wanted to thank you for your brave and candid testimony at the ballet. I brought my 17-year-old son Aaron with me. He had recently made a pro-life speech in his AP High School class-the only pro life voice there. He had focused on the baby as victim. Your testimony helped him see that there are two victims. As a young and talented Christian and one day boyfriend/father: I was thrilled to have him understand this issue more completely. He was very earnest and quiet as he saw testimony after testimony of women who had, after choosing to kill their babies, found forgiveness and joy in the love of Christ. Aaron was very somber. Normally, he's full of jokes and fun. It was a serious event about a serious problem....Praise God for his power to redeem the lost and mourning!”
  Elizabeth Pulinski, mother of 4
  
  “I attended the performance to support my friend Sandy Arena and everyone that I had come to know so well when I was involved hands on with The Amanda Rose Belmont Dance for Joy Center for Arts and Movement. I expected to sit in the audience and support this production as a bystander who has never had an abortion. But then I realized within minutes of the opening that this was much more than an idea of trying to get women to choose life and about the forgiveness that God shows to those who have chosen abortion. I was almost immediately flooded with emotions, emotions that I could never explain to anyone. Feelings that I have kept bottled up for about 6 years. I had suffered the loss of an unborn child by miscarriage. I had always wondered, who my child would be, what my child would look like, who he or she would become in this world. I had always wondered if this baby lost would be a boy or girl or if maybe more than one child. I would never know that, because that child would never be, I would never hold that child, I would never kiss that child, I would never be able to nurture that child or hug that child or see that child’s first smile or first step or hear that first Mama. But after this performance I knew that because My God lives and breaths and has reassured me, that my child that I would never know on this earth is not abandoned, but is with my Lord in heaven. My child will never know pain, will never know loss, will never know what a skinned knee feels like. My child will always know the love of the Father and has been in the Fathers loving embrace since I miscarried. So, no, I've never chosen an abortion but have suffered the loss of an unborn child. And simply sitting and watching this production I feel a peace that I have not known before regarding my child that was not to be.
  So, how much more healing and peace and forgiveness and freedom can this production bring to those who have experienced abortion, who have made that choice? I tell you that you are not alone and that in Christ there is forgiveness and newness. I encourage young and old, women and men to attend a performance whether or not you have or are facing that choice.
  
  MaryAnn Weed, mother of 2
  
  I have not been a big ballet buff by any means but found the presentation of the story by the speaker with the dance of the "feelings" and antagonists in the background to be such a beautiful expression of the reality of abortion in a woman's life. It truly brought the whole process to life making for a graphic representation without the "shock and awe" techniques brought to bear through graphic imagery which can push people toward a decision divisively instead of through unity. This was a positive demonstration of life accompanied by a real testimony to the damage that occurs behind the lies of offering a healthcare service that conotates falsely a redemptive quality. This puts a face, name and aftermath on the victims created which a pro-choice platform is unwilling to acknowledge while fighting for increasing not only its legal reaches and profit taking but more heinously its public funding abilities violating our moral senses. If this current presidential administration will not speak for the victims it conspires to create, then it is surely time for the victims to tell their stories. God's power to the people! It is through concerted efforts as these that we shall overcome. The show can stand on its own merits with little need for additional comments to make the point. Powerful.
  
  Michael Kristan, father of 3
  3-Day Coordinator for the Cursillo Movement within the Rochester Diocese
  
  

• What Our Young Performers Have to Say About The Life Ballet - In Letters Written to Tim Tebow [+ Show ]
  

  Female Dancer, Age 6 I like the show because babies go to heaven. Female Dancer, Age 6 Can y...Female Dancer, Age 6
  I like the show because babies go to heaven.
  
  Female Dancer, Age 6
  Can you help us with our show. It would be a big help. Love, Annaliese
  
  Female Dancer, Age 11....
  I am a dancer at Yahweh Ballet. I believe that this show - The Life Ballet - will touch many people. I was so happy to hear that your mother didn't abort you because look at the man you have turned out to be. My mom had an abortion and me at age 11 didn't find out until last year because of this show. But my mom wasn't scared to talk about it after that cause she can say she was saved by Jesus. She now has me and my two younger sisters. This show we are hoping to do in August has touched MANY moms that have had abortions here in Rochester and will hopefully touch many more.
  
  Female Dancer, Age 11
  I am a dancer. We are doing a show called The Life Ballet. It's about mothers making bad decisions and them happening to have an abortion. It's about them making that decision and how bad it can be. We know that your mom almost had an abortion with you, and look where you are now! This ballet is going to Canada and on national TV and we need donations to make this happen and to spread the word about how abortion is not the answer. This ballet is so important to everbody at my dance studio.
  
  Male Performer, Age 13
  Hey. I am 13 years old. Our next show is going to be in Canada. This show is important to me because women are killing their children before they are born. Through this performance, we hope to change the minds of these women. We just ask for your support.
  
  Female Dancer, Age 14
  I am so happy that your mother chose life, and here you are, this man that is representing the truths about abortion...I can really relate to your feelings about abortion because sadly my mother did not choose life and in result my older brother is not here today and I have never known him and have never met him because of my mother's choice. Since I have learned of this horrible choice last year, I have been given an amazing opportunity to share the truth about abortion and how much it hurts people like me, my mother, and my whole family through a show by my studio Amanda Rose Belmont Dance for Joy and The Yahweh Ballet. This show is called The Life Ballet. I have learned sooo much from this show about myself and all the horrors and truth of abortion. I also have been able to touch other people's lives and let me tell you, there have been a lot of tears, but someone has to share this message and I'm glad that there are others like you helping to do this. If you could find a place in your heart, could you please help support our show? It would mean the world to me and would help me share the message so dear to my heart.
  
  

Setlist

Full show is 1.30 hours including a 15 minute intermission - although it can be shortened to an excerpt to fit available time. Venue must have a clean, debris free, open stage area approximately 20 feet by 10 feet at the minimum. We also use one headset wireless mic.

Basic Requirements

Calendar