Originally a series of paintings, the WWII-inspired idea transforms to dance.
By Alex Lieberman
Original Air Date: March 28, 2025
Host: A series of paintings by local artist Vicki Chelf of women who defied fascists during World War 2 has inspired a dance performance. WSLR News report Alex Lieberman has more on that.
Alex Lieberman: At Manatee Performing Arts Center on April 4 and 5, visitors will have the opportunity to see not only a collection of paintings inspired by women who fought fascism during Hitler’s occupation of France but also a corresponding dance. Artist Vicki Chelf discusses how she became inspired to create the artwork which later led to the performance.
Vicki Chelf.
Vicki Chelf: I discovered a pile of old soggy newspapers from the early 20th century beginning in 1914 all the way up to 1959 in the basement of an old house in the south of France and the foothills of the Pyrenees. I knew I wanted to use them in my art because they were beautifully illustrated and really interesting, but I did not know how I was going to use them until, a day or two later, I went to visit a Resistance museum in the same town where I discovered the newspapers.
AL: Chelf describes having an emotional reaction to being at the exhibit, which displayed items such as concentration camp jackets and radios used in World War Two.
Andree Peel resisted Nazi occupiers by distributing underground newspapers.
VC: The docent of the museum’s mom had been a Resistance fighter herself, and she started showing me pictures of her mom in the forest with the men as a guerilla fighter. I just started sobbing when I learned—it was just very emotional for me—when I learned how important women were to defeating the Nazis.
AL: According to Chelf, the Nazi did not suspect that women were intelligent enough to take any proactive or subversive measures. Women also took on many traditionally male-dominated roles because men of working age were at war. Both of these factors, she says, enabled women to contribute so much to the Resistance.
Upon returning home, Chelf researched some notable women involved with the movement.
Josephine Baker was a beloved performer and an invaluable intelligence agent.
VC: I looked for ones that had photo reference because I needed that to do portraits. As a result the ones I have done are some of the more famous ones like Josephine Baker and Hedy Lamarr. But, the more I’ve researched and the longer I’ve been into this, I keep learning about other incredible stories from incredible women.
AL: In the future, aside from creating more paintings for the collection, Chelf can see it being a traveling museum show and traveling theatrical production. For the past three years, the artist and her team have been working on converting the paintings to a corresponding dance.
VC: We are working with Sarasota Contemporary Dance. we have a world class composer. I see it traveling in the US and in Canada, England and France, actually.
AL: The composer, Warren Williams, who goes by Slim, is an old friend of the artist.
Warren “Slim” Williams.
Warren Williams: I must say I’m doing my best work right now, because it’s a lot of music. It’s almost an hour and 15 minutes of music. And I’m loving it.
AL: Williams has been creating all types of music for the performance, including repurposing music from the 1940s.
WW: I’m just happy to be here, I’m thrilled to be a part of this, and I’m hoping that—I think it will be a series of powerful women throughout history. We will continue this story for sure.
AL: The idea of having a life show to go along with the exhibit came to Chelf in a meditation.
VC: It just came to me in a meditation that—”Oh, I see. I want people to feel these stories—to hear the stories, to learn them, but to also feel them,” and I believe dance is a way to make people feel rather than think the story.
The Women of Resistance paintings.
AL: The performance centers around the lives of seven Resistance women. Each one is played by a different person with narration to tell the story, and each dance lasts about 10 minutes.
Chelf noted that people on both sides of the aisle seem to like her art and the show.
VC: People on both sides of the political spectrum seem to like it—for different reasons, but it doesn’t matter. I have supporters on both sides of the political spectrum. I believe we live in a time where we need to somehow find inspiration but also maybe a bit of a way to come together without being angry at others.
Hedy Lamarr helped develop a guidance system for allied torpedoes.
AL: The artist says that she observes many people, especially women, feeling helpless or despondent to make any change in the world. However, she does not share that sentiment.
VC: I feel like I’m creating something to inspire. There are not a lot of role models especially for women today, and these were all young women when they did these amazing acts of heroism.
I do think it will help bring people together, and I do think it will inspire other women like it inspires me. I feel like a lot of women feel powerless ,and these stories prove that, if we put our minds to something, we can do it in spite of hardships.
AL: If you would like to see Chelf’s paintings and the show, you will find the paintings in the lobby of the Manatee Performing Arts Center. Performances will run at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday night with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.
Reporting for WSLR News, Alex Lieberman.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.