SUMMARY:
On September 14, 1975, Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) became the first person born in the United States to be canonized as a Saint in the Catholic Church. This ballet was created to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of her Sainthood. A prominent historical figure, she has been inducted into both the Maryland and the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Born on the Eve of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Ann Seton established the US Chapter of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland and their legacy has been far-reaching throughout the country and internationally. Mother Seton’s many passions included a love of dancing, which gave the creation of this ballet an added significance.

A Saint’s presence offers healing to those whom they encounter. This one act ballet depicts Mother Seton tending to a young woman, Fanny Cornforth, who has been betrayed and heartbroken. Mother Seton offers her own story as a self-sufficient young woman, who fell deeply in love, only to devastatingly lose her husband to tuberculosis leaving her a widow at age 29 with five children. Despite a difficult road ahead of her, filled with many challenges and the further loss of loved ones to illness, she was upheld by her faith, projecting a spirit of peace and radiant joy that lifted those who experienced her.

Stylistically this choreography was inspired by the artistic legacy of the Rossetti family, especially Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his painting Found. While there were women who encountered Mother Seton, as depicted in this ballet, the real Fanny Cornforth was an art model who did not meet her; nonetheless, in paying homage to both the historical and artistic legacies, I preserved the name of the model while depicting the shared experiences of other women.