1st Year students perform in Echo Eternal, a Holocaust remembrance project presented by CORE Education Trust
On 26 January, The Royal Ballet School hosted the annual Echo Eternal performance in partnership with National Youth Music Theatre, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and CORE Education Trust students. 1st Year students Billy, Daisy, Joel and Nico performed in the cast of young multidisciplinary artists. ‘It’s been so special to get to come together with dancers, singers, actors and just be as one to really embody this project and get to carry on the stories,’ said Daisy.
Co-founded by our Chair Natasha Kaplinsky OBE and CORE Education Trust CEO Adrian Packer CBE, Echo Eternal is a commemorative arts, media and civic engagement project, delivered in schools for children of all ages. The project was originally inspired by British Holocaust survivors’ testimonies, recorded with Natasha in 2015 and 2016 on behalf of UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.
Echo Eternal co-founders Adrian Packer and Natasha Kaplinsky (photo by John Palmer)
Echo Eternal brings together diverse communities in a collaborative context, using a common focus of Holocaust memorial and genocide awareness. This focus is supported by the creation of civic and artistic alliances between schools with different social and cultural characteristics.
This year’s performance commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Windermere Children, a group of young refugees who were liberated from labour and concentration camps in eastern Europe and moved to the Lake District by the Committee for the Care of Children from Concentration Camps. Students dressed in period clothing performed as the Windermere Children, recreating scenes of them eating bread that ‘tastes like cake’ and adjusting to life in the UK.
Natasha Kaplinsky and Patrick Harrison write notes on the poster with the late Harry Olmer’s name on it (photo by John Palmer)
One of these children, Harry (Chaim) Olmer MBE (1927-2026), was a key collaborator in this year’s Echo Eternal project, sharing memories and reflections upon his childhood to inspire the multidisciplinary show. Video clips from his interview with Natasha were interspersed throughout the show, and one student played Harry on stage. Sadly, Harry passed away earlier this month, aged 98. His family attended the show, which was dedicated to his memory.
The show included young actors, singers, musicians and our dancers in a multidisciplinary depiction of Harry’s testimony. ‘Seeing different art forms come together has been really inspiring,’ Nico said. ‘It’s made me appreciate what the musicians do, what the actors do – how a performance doesn’t have to be just one thing.’ The stage was decorated with paintings featuring quotes and imagery from Harry’s interviews. One said, ‘It’s amazing how human beings – how strong they are. We really are very, very strong people inside, and we can overcome. It’s amazing what people, what human beings, actually can get through. They really can.’
Our dancers conveyed his memories and emotions through movement, dressed in all black then changing into white button-down tops to match the students in modern-day school uniforms. The students’ professionalism and devotion to the story culminated in a poignant performance, ensuring that the Holocaust will never be forgotten by new generations, even if survivors can no longer share their stories firsthand.
‘Echo Eternal is rooted in the testimony of Holocaust survivors. With fewer and fewer still alive, it is vital that their experiences continue to be heard and understood, particularly by young people,’ Adrian said. ‘Echo Eternal brings generations together to remember, reflect, and ensure the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.’
Adrian Packer and Natasha Kaplinsky address the cast of students (photo by John Palmer)
