Because of the virus, there are fewer opportunities to experience the arts, live, this summer. Yet life continues, and there is still music and movement in the air… Borrowed Light, heard and seen over much of Europe, Eurasia, and North America in over seventy performances, was, and is, one of Camerata’s most important achievements.

Thanks to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, this memorable dance-and-music production featuring the Tero Saarinen Company of Helsinki, Finland, alongside The Boston Camerata, will be available for streaming via the Internet. It’s a magnificent work, based on authentic spiritual songs transcribed from Shaker archives, and sung live by Camerata, danced to extraordinary, boundary-stretching choreography conceived by modern dance genius Tero Saarinen, and performed by his ensemble.

The online video stream will premiere on Thursday, August 20 on YouTube and will remain available until Saturday, August 22. You can RSVP here to receive the link on August 20, plus some bonus content before the event.

Music Director Emeritus Joel Cohen, whose extensive work on Shaker music inspired Borrowed Light, says “Shaker music has been an important part of my life, and the Camerata’s life, for a number of years. What draws me to Borrowed Light isn’t that it’s illustrative of the Shaker songs we do. It’s a different community and a different story from the Shaker story that we sing, but the strong bond is the Shaker music, even though it’s very simple simple song, very musical, short phrases, catchy tunes. You think, ‘OK, this is a kind of folk music,’ and yet there’s a depth to it, because it goes right to the basic questions of existence – why are we here on Earth? And Tero does that with his dance. Sometimes the dance, in my view, complements what we’re singing; sometimes I see Tero taking an almost contrary stance to the music, but in every case, it doesn’t just give a simple illustration of something anecdotal. It’s profound, it’s real, and it’s deeply in touch with the things that the Shakers themselves were in touch with when they composed these melodies.”

Click here to hear from Tero Saarinen, the choreographer of Borrowed Light, sharing some recent thoughts on that work, and its persistent appeal.

Click here for original cast members of Borrowed Light, Deborah Rentz-Moore and Daniel Hershey talking about their experiences performing this piece over a decade of international touring.

Click here to watch the trailer for the 2012 production at Jacob’s Pillow that will be streamed.

If you find Borrowed Light important and meaningful, do let us know via mail, email, and possibly via a contribution, enabling us to continue our work during these challenging times.