‘Dark Night’ live streaming from Free Center Middletown

Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet – with dancers Elijah Ryan, Sasha Biagiarelli, Emilee Alexander, Sydney Zelent, Richelle Stevenson, Alexis Nale and Heather Bachman, all pictured, and choreographer Elisa Schroth – is based at Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown.

“Dark Night,” a ballet that uses dance to show how spirituality can help ease trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, will be performed on Oct. 24, livestreamed from Free Center Middletown.

“Dark Night” was choreographed by Elisa Schroth of Middletown, whose nonprofit dance company, Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet, is housed at Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown.

Schroth called her dance company, which she founded in Killingworth 15 years ago, “a bridge between the church and the community.”

“We are a faith-based organization, exploring theology and dance. I really believe the church should be taking the front line in some of these issues in society now, LGBTQ issues, human inequality, integration, climate change. These issues should addressed theologically,” Schroth said.

Schroth got her dance training at Hartford Conservatory and at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, where she earned her BFA.

“Dark Night” was inspired by a poem written by St. John of the

Cross. The performance on Oct. 24 will have a unique structure. First, a primer will be given on the language of dance. Then the 13 -minute ballet will be performed. Then a discussion about trauma will be held, with Gilead Community Services of Middletown participating. Then the ballet will be performed again.

“The aim of the company is to use dance in a practical way, use it to help people,” Schroth said. “I find it’s useful for people to see the work again after we’ve talked about it.”

The theme was a perfect fit for Free Center, which is run by Kerry Kincy, an expressive arts practitioner.

“I meet with a lot of invisible populations, children on the spectrum, folks with dementia, people in prisons, populations in psychiatric hospitals. Sometimes there are no words for what someone is going through and how to express what they are feeling,” Kincy said. “I get contacted to go into organizations and use movement and art and music in a way that gives voices to the voiceless.”

“Dark Night” is part of the Free Center’s

“Dance and Dialogue” series. Schroth said she will participate in other episodes of the series, focusing on the subjects of mental health and homelessness.

The seven-member Ekklesia company — Elijah Ryan, Sasha Biagiarelli, Emilee Alexander, Sydney Zelent, Richelle Stevenson, Alexis Nale and Heather Bachman — will perform at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free, and 300 people can sign up for the Zoom link. After the show, it can be seen, recorded. Details: freecenter.us/event-directory