Catherine Burnett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I shared the Heaven on Earth presentation and questions with her and several weeks later, she came up with an idea.
She gave her intermediate year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) acting students the assignment of interviewing different people of different ages about heaven on earth by asking them the Heaven on Earth questions. The students would then re-create these people on stage in monologues. The first-year BFA actors were given their own assignment of choreographing several musical pieces.
The show they created is called IMAGINE. It explores the concept of heaven on many levels, empowers individuals to create Heaven in their own lives, and affirms that now is the time to start.
The show includes music, dance, acting and visual imaging and it brought together her students with outside professional artists. It opens with the Fred Astaire/ Ginger Rogers dance number “Cheek to Cheek” (with the famous line “Heaven, I’m in Heaven…”) and closes with a dance piece to “Your Love Lifts Me Higher.” The show is infused with an art expression piece featuring a soprano, a tenor, a singer-songwriter, and a jazz artist. Also participating in the show were a whirling Sufi dancer, a local professional actress, and an African dancer.
Catherine and her fellow artists believe it’s through the medium of the arts that the Heaven on Earth message has the most impact.
Martin Rutte
