Bringing Sin to the Stage

BalletMet presents the 7 Deadly Sins

In honor of BalletMet’s upcoming rock and roll ballet, 7 Deadly Sins, where BalletMet and Shadowbox join forces for a sinfully delicious mix of choreography, new compositions and music let’s take a closer look into the inspiration for such a show, or better yet, what exactly are these “deadly sins?”
It’s so hard to be good when being bad is just way more fun. Are you green with envy? Love to indulge at a buffet or two, or four? Do you love to lay around on a lazy day…or every day? Can’t keep that temper in check or just can’t help catching your reflection in the hallway mirror, a puddle on a rainy day, or your soup spoon at dinner? Can’t choke out a few quarters for those little charity jars at fast-food restaurants? Or how about the big one, can’t keep that lustful glint out of your eyes at the bar on a Friday night?
Bad news, these vices won’t just land a lump of coal in your stocking, they are your ticket straight to that “oh so sinful place,” according to the Catholic Church, who came up with this list of crimes sure to land you right on the naughty list. But good news, you’ll have a whole lot of fun on the way.
An iconic topic in pop culture everywhere, these deadly sins have made quite a nasty mark. From art to film, music to theater, video games to ballet, these vices have caused quite a commotion.

To name a few:

• George Balanchine created a ballet titled the Seven Deadly Sins for the New York City Ballet.

• Dante’s Divine Comedy gives us a run down of these sinful indulgences, and his punishments for them don’t exactly sound like fun. (Envy will send you straight to purgatory with your eyes sewn shut with wire…and that is one of the more pleasant ones. Yikes!)

• Remember in high school English when we were forced to read Geoffrey Chaucer’s, Canterbury Tales? Well, there they are again, making their way into these not-so-pleasant characters.

• The popular rock band, Bullet for my Valentine featured these seven deadly vices in their video for Betrayal in 2010. Check it out here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgFJEJgUrg.

• And who can forget the movie Seven (1995), whose storyline follows Brad Pitt as he searches for a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as his “modus operandi.” But wait, it’s a trap! Don’t get caught staring at Brad Pitt with envy in your eyes…or worse yet, well we just won’t go there.)

• America’s Next Top Model even did a fabulous photo shoot where contestants posed in a coffin, depicting each of these vices.

• Scholars have gone even further to say that Disney’s, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which we all watched as kids (on repeat if you were like me), are actually the seven deadly sins personified into adorable short, stout men who rarely bathe and love to sing.

• And what about Gilligan, the Skipper too, the Millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann, oh wait, all sins again! Hmm, maybe that’s why they were ship-wrecked for so long?

And, because you can buy anything and everything on the internet these days, you can even purchase sweatshirts, mugs, and mouse pads featuring these seven cardinal vices. Why not show everyone that you are lazy and gluttonous with a great T-shirt?
The term seven deadly sins, is never found in the Bible though. Crafted together in a list by the Catholic Church, these sins have been used since early Christian times. They are seen as the root of all other sins. I guess that’s why they are so deadly? Pride is the most evil and retched of these sins. Apparently, excessive love of self is much worse than laziness or eating a whole lot. Keep that in mind.
If you want to take a quiz to find out which sin describes you most, check out this website http://www.4degreez.com/misc/seven_deadly_sins.html.
I took it, and didn’t exactly get the warm and fuzzies when my results popped up, but still a good time. Check it out!

Seven Deadly Sins at a glance:

Envy: The desire for other’s traits, status, ability, or situation.
Why do we do it: The grass is always greener right?
Virtue: Kindness
Punishment: Dante says our eyes will be sewn shut, but others say we’ll be thrown in freezing water, so take your pick.
Associated with: The color green and dogs.

Greed: The desire for material wealth and gain.
Why do we do it: Kind of hard not to. We do live in country that sings about “material girls” and airs shows like MTV Cribs.
Virtue: Charity
Punishment: Boiled alive in olive oil (only the finest oil of course).
Associated with: The color yellow and frogs.

Gluttony: The desire to consume more than we need; the supersize-me-sin.
Why do we do it: We live in the world of buffets and “would you like fries with that?”
Virtue: Temperance
Punishment: Force fed rats, toads and snakes. A whole new way of “piggin’ out.”
Associated with: The color orange and pigs.

Wrath: Self-explanatory.
Why do we do it: People can be pretty annoying.
Virtue: Patience
Punishment: Dismembered alive, ouch.
Associated with: The color red and bears.

Sloth: Avoidance of physical and spiritual work; Laziness.
Why do we do it: Who doesn’t love vegging out in front of the TV …for hours?
Virtue: Diligence
Punishment: Thrown into a snake pit. You probably won’t be so lazy then.
Associated with: The color light blue and goats. And I would have thought it was the sloth.

Lust: Craving for pleasures of the body
Why do we do it: I’ll let you answer that one for yourself.
Virtue: Chastity
Punishment: Smothered in fire and brimstone…not kisses.
Associated with: The color blue and cows.

Pride: Excessive belief in one’s own abilities
Why do we do it: Because we’re awesome.
Virtue: Humility
Punishment: Broken on the wheel (whatever that means).
Associated with: The color violet and horses. Guess those horses have a lot of pride.