“Chilling in its impact, yet buoyed by the love shared by the narrators, Cat’s Cradle tells a story that theatergoers will not forget.” –The Star Ledger
In this stunning work, Dorfman incorporates cabaret songs written in Theresienstadt by Ilse Weber and performed by Bente Kahan, a brilliant Scandinavian Jewish artist/vocalist. Ironically, these songs were written in Theresienstadt, a ghetto that held over 80,000 Jews from various nations before they were sent to concentration camps under the Nazi regime. “There was an enormous amount of creative output in Theresienstadt, as this is where many artists, intellectuals and professionals were sent”, Dorfman describes- “I am interested in the ability of the human spirit to rise above its realities and continue to create and to dream”. These songs embody that duality.
The full company work is centered on three women with yarn. The yarn is both a metaphor for extraordinary stories of her family and the reality of her mother and her two sisters who knitted while telling their tales and thus knit the family together across generations. It is, in the end, a piece about connection and memory…past, present and future.
“Choreographer Carolyn Dorfman has found an artistic soul mate in folk singer/songwriter Bente Kahan. Together, they are creating works that are charged — emotionally and intellectually. Cat’s Cradle is a compelling tour de force.” -Daily Gazette