Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who wrote a diary about hiding from the Nazis with her family in World War II Amsterdam, is the subject of a new ballet the Central Illinois Ballet will perform March 22-24.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

Holocaust is subject of new ballet

When many people think about ballet, images of beautiful princesses and princes in lavish costumes come to mind. Ballets about war and human suffering are in the minority. But add one by Central Illinois Ballet Artistic Director Rebekah von Rathonyi. She is tackling the inspirational and heart-wrenching story of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis with her family in World War II Amsterdam.

Anne Frank’s story has been told a few times through dance, but there was no script or score available, so von Rathonyi wrote her own. She began working on the ballet about a year ago, starting with doing historical research.

Classical music, mostly by Jewish composers, will accompany about 50 dancers from Central Illinois Ballet and its school, the Cornerstone Academy for Performing Arts, during the 48-minute production. Playing the lead of Anne Frank is Cornerstone student Coralie Zika.

Because the ballet addresses difficult topics and contains historically accurate scenes of Holocaust-related violence, organizers have posted a warning on the company’s website that the production might not be appropriate for small children.

The Central Illinois Ballet will perform “Anne Frank” March 22-24 at the Central Illinois Ballet Theatre, 830 W Main St. in Peoria. Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $10 for senior citizens and children.

To help soften the emotional toll on the audience, the evening will feature a lighter second half.

MORTON

Cell phone, ink cartridge recycling at village hall

The Village of Morton is joining with the Tazewell County Health Department in celebrating Earth Day 2019 by becoming a collection site for the county’s cell phone and ink cartridge recycling program. Individuals can bring used cell phones and ink cartridges to Morton Village Hall, 120 N. Main St., April 1-22 to be recycled, during village hall hours of Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Accepted Items Include:

• Smart phones,
• Cell phones,
• Inkjet cartridges,
• iPads/tablets,
• Smart watches, and
• Gold, silver and platinum jewelry.

Food bank needs volunteers March 30

Midwest Food Bank — Morton Division is looking for volunteers who can help from 9-11:30 a.m. March 30 to pack Tender Mercies meals. Tender Mercies is an important initiative at Midwest Food Bank that enables nutritious meals to be produced and distributed to those most in need. The Tender Mercies meal packet consists of high-grade rice, pre-cooked pinto beans, fortified chicken seasoning and a soy protein. The result is delicious food at the cost of 15 cents per meal. One packet feeds about four people with 13 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber and 1 gram of fat per serving.

Midwest Food Bank – Morton Division is at 700 Erie Ave., Morton. Interested people can sign up at signupgenius.com/go/5080a4ca4ad2ca2fb6-tender1.

PEKIN

High school yearbook earns national honor

Pekin Community High School’s student yearbook team beat out thousands of other national entries when it won honors for the design and theme of its 2017-2018 yearbook.

This was the second time PCHS was awarded a certificate from Heff Jones, the leading provider of graduation and educational products and services. A group of independent judges review thousands of yearbooks every year before picking only a few hundred to appear in Jones’ annual book called the Portfolio, which is meant to inspire other yearbooks. The book highlights themes, covers, photography, journalistic writing, designs and more from the best of the best yearbooks from across the United States. This year, PCHS was one of 420 schools selected.

Each yearbook has a theme and specific design style. The 2017-2018 yearbook’s theme was Find Your Fire. Its major design elements were fire — which partly visually manifested with the use of different fire colors such as red, orange and yellow — and triangles, which appear throughout the book in different ways including sometimes containing text or photos.