A Time to Dance -- Desert Foothills Theater 

Explore the extraordinary 100 years of Austrian dancer and American dance therapy pioneer Elizabeth (Lisl) Polk, expressed through creative movement and spoken word by her grand-niece. Libby uses improvised movement, creative dance and spoken word to express her great aunt Lisl, who dances to her own dazzling stories of a turbulent life spanning the 20th Century. Lisl arrives in 1902 Vienna under Hapsburg rule, survives two world wars, immigrates to New York, survives 9/11, and dances the Macarena on her hundredth birthday.

The daughter of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, Lisl deals with the conflicting forces of anti-Semitism in her own home as she dreams of becoming a famous dancer. Met with opposition from an autocratic father, she finds unexpected ways to negotiate and fulfill her dream, while struggling to emerge from the shadow of her famous older sister. Although Lisl's cherished hope to be carried into the sunset by a prince on horseback never materializes, she discovers a love she's always had and never realized.

Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center Black Box Theater