We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Raffaella Maria Stroik, a 23-year-old ballerina, died tragically in November 2018, drowning in a lake in Missouri. This real-life tragedy has now been transformed or transfigured, as if by magic or miracle, into a beautiful fairytale ballet, inspired by Raffaella’s devout and fervent Catholic faith.

Fairyland and perfection have a great deal in common. They are both beyond our reach but they are both necessary for our growth in wisdom and virtue. The vision of perfection is both an inspiration and an aspiration. This is why Christians strive to be more like Jesus Christ, the only truly perfect human being. He inspires us to aspire towards perfection, even though, this side of heaven, it is not perfectly attainable. In a similar way, fairyland does not show us the way things are but the way they should be. “Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense,” wrote G. K. Chesterton. “It is not earth that judges heaven, but heaven that judges the earth; so for me at least it was not earth that criticized elfland, but elfland that criticized the earth.” Heaven judges earth because supernature precedes and supersedes nature. Fairyland judges earth because what should be supersedes what shouldn’t be. Good supersedes evil.

J. R.R. Tolkien, in his celebrated essay “On Fairy-Stories”, speaks of fairytales as being the opposite of tragedy. Whereas tragic drama depicts catastrophe, a sudden disastrous turn in events, fairy-stories depict eucatastrophe, a word that Tolkien invented to describe the sudden joyous turn which leads to “the Consolation of the Happy Ending”. It is this essential aspect of fairy-stories, this “joy of deliverance”, which “denies … universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief”.

This preamble on fairy-stories serves as a preface to the backstory behind the birth of Raffaella, a new fairytale ballet being premiered at the end of June in South Bend, Indiana.

The story begins in tragedy. Raffaella Maria Stroik, a 23-year-old ballerina, died tragically in November 2018, drowning in a lake in Missouri. A few months after her death, her mother had a vision of her daughter’s life as a tragic ballet, seeing its reflection in poignant scenes from classical ballets, such as Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Esmeralda. Ruth Stroik shared her vision with her husband, the celebrated church architect, Duncan Stroik. Thus began the creative journey which would lead to the production of the forthcoming fairytale ballet, in which Raffaella becomes the eponymous heroine.

The real-life tragedy has been transformed or transfigured, as if by magic or miracle, into a beautiful fairytale, inspired by Raffaella’s devout and fervent Catholic faith. Her love for Jesus Christ, shared by her parents, transforms and transfigures the tragedy of the crucifixion into the eucatastrophe of the resurrection. It transforms and transfigures the tragedy of Raffaella’s death into the eucatastrophe of her own resurrection from the dead and the promise that she will live happily ever after with Jesus Christ.

The fairytale, based on Duncan Stroik’s libretto, is choreographed by Claire Kretzschmar and set to a musical score by celebrated composer, Michael Kurek, whose second symphony, Tales from the Realm of Faerie, convinced Duncan and Ruth Stroik that he would be the ideal person to bring their own fairytale to musical life.

As we await the world premiere in South Bend, Raffaella’s hometown, on June 29, let’s whet our appetite for goodness, truth and beauty with the fairytale that Kurek’s music and Kretzchmar’s choreography are about to bring to miraculous life:

One upon a time, a beautiful baby girl was born in a faraway village called San Michele, which sat serenely on the shores of a lake. The girl’s name was Raffaella. Her parents rejoiced at the glorious gift of the child and offered prayers of thanksgiving before the statues of three angels. After the parents retire happily to bed, the three statues come to life. The three angels then give thanks for the birth of the child.

Raffaella’s parents are visited by a Mysterious Man who presents them with a golden rose and prophesies that their child will give the gift of beauty to everyone she meets. As he does so, another man appears, majestic and robed in white but invisible to mortal eyes. He is accompanied by the three angels.

The beautiful child grows into a beautiful young lady, whom we next see on the morning of her sixteenth birthday. She hands a white rose to her younger sister and other roses to the other children of the village, sharing the bouquet that her father had given her as a birthday gift. She then enters the chapel to pray.

As she prays, the True Prince appears and teaches her a special dance. He then departs.

Raffaella teaches the dance she has learned to the villagers but they find it hard to believe her story about the invisible Prince, whom nobody else has seen.

The young men of the village are captivated by the beauty of Raffaella’s dancing but she refuses their advances, declaring her love for the invisible Prince.

During a visit to Rome with her family, Raffaella sees a school of ballet under the direction of the Emerald Queen. She becomes a student of the Emerald Queen and learns to dance even more beautifully.

Raffaella meets a handsome young man who declares his love for her and desires to marry her, offering her a dark crown studded with jewels. When she refuses his gift, he is offended and responds angrily, revealing himself as the False Prince. In fear and anguish, Raffaella prays for help. The True Prince arrives, accompanied by angels, vanquishing the False Prince and his demonic accomplices. Once again, Rafaella dances with the True Prince.

The True Prince asks her to be his bride and to accompany him to his kingdom. Raffaella bids a loving farewell to her family. She departs with the Prince to his hidden realm where they live happily ever after.

Raffaella will be premiered on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30, 2024, by the South Bend Symphony under the baton of Robin Fountain, at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Indiana.

Tickets may be purchased at the website here.

The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.

The featured image is courtesy of the Rafaellawebsite. 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email