Lyssa Henry

Ballet Magnificat!’s Deliver Us is a masterfully and beautifully designed showcase, with brilliant dancing, impressive talent, and a familiar but still original storyline that nearly knocked me out of my seat. The anticipation of each move was biting, the drama of the plot was intense, and the whole mixture of lighting, music, and dancing was so flawless, no one in the house could look away for a second. The first act of the ballet was called Amazing God, and it was a set of popular Christian songs that the company danced to as a display of worship. The second act was called the same as the show, Deliver Us. This followed the storyline of biblical character Moses to the soundtrack of the Dreamworks movie The Prince of Egypt.

Ballet Magnificat! is a Christian ballet company from Jackson, Mississippi. The main goal of this organization is to show Jesus to the world in a way that the world hasn’t seen before. The company ministers to audiences in over 20 countries around the world. The dedication to the arts and to Christ Jesus gives them drive and excitement to share their gifts to the rest of the world, and as I see it, it is something they do exceptionally well.

The first act of this particular show was beautiful altogether, but the first song that really stood out involved a soloist, dancing to the song “I Look To You.” She was joined by four other artists throughout the song, but the awe-striking point in this song was near the end, when the soloist, mid spin, changed her dress from black to red to a collective gasp of the audience. If anyone asked me where the other dress had gone, I would have no idea, but the way the group made it happen left the audience in shock. The rest of the songs were also powerful, with music that was thought-provoking, mixed with choreography that made the dancers seem like a machine. This machine was graceful and fluid, with most of the dancers in perfect synchronization with each other at any given moment.

Act two was the big selling point of this show. For anyone who grew up watching The Prince of Egypt, this performance brought back a flood of memories of the movie, but with a daring spin on the tale and a few slightly altered interpretations of what happened in different scenes. It opened with the Israelites being treated harshly as slaves, took the audience through a journey explaining how Moses ended up with the Egyptians, and explained why he felt he had to leave them. Moses was then welcomed into Midian, where he lived for forty years until he encountered a bush that was on fire but not engulfed in the flames. This bush, used to help God to speak to Moses, was portrayed by a woman in a fiery dress on pointe, moving her arms in a way I could not describe in any way other than the world’s most graceful flailing. Moses then took what God told him to the Pharaoh, his brother through adoption, and was harshly rejected. God then brought plagues unto Egypt, and eventually, the Israelites were set free.

The most amusing part of the second act was to the song “Playing With the Big Boys,” which involved some delightfully sarcastic magicians telling Moses that the things he can do with his staff were not all that impressive and that he should leave the magic to the real magicians.

The show ended with a jump forward several hundred years, to Mary being told that she would become pregnant with the son of God, Jesus. The story transitioned to the crucifixion, and when Jesus was on the cross, there was a moment when all was silent, and he let out a scream that stopped my heart and brought tears to my eyes. That scream was representative of how much Jesus had to suffer, and simultaneously broke the hearts of every person in the room. The hearts of those crucifying Jesus were changed; however, and he rose again in a garment of white, showing the audience that he was still alive. This scene was powerful and devastating, but it also brought a sense of hope and  joy to the audience; for sometimes, a heart has to be broken in order to be made whole again.

Amazingly performed, brilliantly choreographed, daringly hopeful, and altogether well-done, Ballet Magnificat!’s Deliver Us was a must-see and brought tears to my eyes for how utterly amazing it was.

If you get the opportunity, I would recommend this group to everyone and say that this should be experienced by all, so check out Ballet Magnificat!