“Beauty will save the world”, was a quote often stated by Raffaella Stroik, a young ballet dancer at St. Louis Ballet whose life was tragically cut short in November 2018.
It is always startling to hear about the passing of a young person; in Raffaella’s case she was only 23. At that age, most dancers are only at the beginning of an already short career with most retiring in their mid-thirties and sometimes even earlier.
For the close-knit ballet world, the news of her passing shocked dancers everywhere. I can’t help but wonder what else she would have accomplished had she had the chance. However, though her time was cut short, her impact and legacy continue to inspire others.
When Raffaella’s mother, Ruth Stroik, awoke from a dream resembling a story ballet, the idea to build a classical ballet as her daughter’s legacy became a family mission.
Mrs. Stroik and her husband Duncan have spearheaded the project and stitched together a top-notch group of ballet dancers – some of who knew their daughter – including her childhood friend Isabella LaFreniere, now a Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. LaFreniere will dance the title role.
In addition, they’ve commissioned choreography from former NYCB Soloist Claire Kretzschmar and a brand-new score by Michael Kurek.
When I spoke with Kretzschmar about the uniqueness of the concept, she effused,
“It’s really rare that a totally original full-length classical ballet is done today where we’re honoring the life of someone. I don’t know if that’s been done before.”
And she is right. In thinking back to the tribute ballets I have heard of, most seem to be reserved for celebrity musicians (Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead) and none in the classical story ballet style. Raffaella has the potential to be this century’s Giselle or Sleeping Beauty but with a twist of inspiration from a real individual.
Rafaella
Originally from South Bend, Indiana, Raffaella trained at Southhold Dance Theater, where she met LaFreniere, graduated from Indiana University and then joined the St. Louis Ballet in Missouri. LaFreniere remembers her as “bright, almost angelic, bubbly” and Kretzschmar, although she never met her, is aiming to display the young dancer’s purity, generosity, and radiance in the work.
An irrefutable characteristic of Raffaella’s was her love of sharing ballet. In an interview with The Herald Times, she commented, “I don’t like to dance for myself, I like to dance for others”.
So how do you capture that generosity of spirit? Her giving and caring nature? Her pure joy in the power of expression?
Kretzschmar says it has been helpful to have a firsthand account of Raffaella’s personality through working with LaFreniere. “It’s been really special to speak to Isabella about who Raffaella was and to ask Isabella questions like, ‘What kinds of steps do you think Raffaella would want to do? or ‘What kind of steps do you think best capture her spirit?’”
In the story (written by her parents and slightly adjusted by Kretzschmar to suit a classical ballet format), Raffaella is a dancer, but the Stroiks and Kretzschmar also included symbolic elements like a rose to represent Raffaella’s devotion to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Echoed in the story as well as through Kurek’s music, the rose will be a key theme.
In the ballet, the dancer will also travel to Italy, an echo of her real life, where she meets the Emerald Queen, representing her close work with ballet icon Violette Verdy at Indiana University.
For LaFreniere, embodying the spirit of her friend, whom she lovingly refers to as Raffy, has been an introspective and important journey.
“It’s going to be a big undertaking and I’m really honored to do it, but it’s been a very different experience trying to just truly embody who she was. I hope that I can do it justice.”
She’s found joy in working with Kretzschmar since they were already close friends and former colleagues at NYCB and with her dancing partner, Jonatan Luján, who she describes as “such a charismatic, bubbly, bright… yeah, goofy guy too. He can keep us laughing for hours. It’s been a really great rehearsal experience and studio experience with everyone so far.”
In talking with both Kretzschmar and LaFreniere, I felt a radiating passion and joy from both which echoes back to not only who Raffaella was as a person but also what Raffaella already knew – that dance could be a vessel for beauty, love, and comradery.
Raffaella is proof that ballet can be more than fluffy tulle skirts and box office sales; it can be a legacy, a uniter, a message for hope. Kretzschmar solidifies that sentiment:
“If you can come, please come. It’s going to be so powerful and heartwarming and all the best things. It’s going to be an unforgettable weekend of performances.”
Raffaella will premiere in South Bend, Indiana at the Morris Performing Arts Center on June 29 and 30, 2024. Tickets can be purchased on their website where donations can also be made to help support the creation of the ballet.
*Excerpts from my interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Featured Photo of Isabella LaFreniere and Jonatan Luján. Photo by Megan L.C. McNally, courtesy of Raffaella Ballet.
