Families affected by the Tree of Life Synagogue tragedy will benefit from a performance by the SHARP Dance Company at Shady Side Academy.
The Philadelphia-based modern dance troupe will present “Spreading Love, Conquering Hate,” at 8 p.m. Feb. 16.
Shady Side Academy has donated the use of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts on the Senior School campus, 423 Fox Chapel Road.
Tickets cost $28, with proceeds donated to the families of the Tree of Life victims.
“After hearing of the tragedy in Pittsburgh this past November, we felt as a company that we needed to do something,” said Diane Sharp-Nachsin, artistic director and founder of the dance company.
Sharp-Nachsin began her dance career in Pittsburgh after college and was later named a BAU Fellow in Italy and granted a residency at The Living Garden in Paros, Greece.
SHARP strives to bring together a company of strong dancers to translate emotion using contemporary movement, she said.
The show’s featured piece will be “669,” inspired by the story of Nicholas Winton, a man who saved 669 children from the Holocaust. The performance follows the stories of the parents who chose to give their children away in order to save them, the woman who was sent in as a spy but ultimately changed sides to help Winton, and the children themselves.
The eight-member dance troupe performs across the globe, with shows at the Chicago Fringe and the STEPS Performance Lab in New York.
For tickets, visit thehillman.org.
Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya at 412-782-2121, ext. 2, tpanizzi@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tawnyatrib.
