Wrinkles in Time

Age Is Just a Number

By Amy Kepferle · Wednesday, September 30, 2009

When asked how old she’ll be on her impending birthday, Noemi Ban laughs and flutters her eyelashes before answering, “Seventeen, of course!”

While those looking at Ban can figure out she’s no longer a flirty teenager—she’ll be 88 by the time these words are printed—her infectious grin and easy laughter makes it easy to see the scrappy kid and beautiful young woman she must’ve once been. That’s what makes it so difficult to reconcile the fact that, in 1944, Ban and her family were spirited away from their home in Hungary, sent in cattle cars to a concentration camp with the horrible, guttural name of Auschwitz and separated—never to be reunited—with the flick of a Nazi soldier’s whip.

When Ban takes the stage Oct. 1 for the debut of “Wrinkles…Grace in Time,” audiences can get a clearer picture of what it took for her to survive.

As part of Western Washington University instructor Pam Kuntz’s latest collaboration between community members and local dancers, Ban and the four other “elderly” women highlighted in the performance will share experiences—and some canny moves—from their long and varied existences. Recent WWU graduates Paige Fredlund and Sarah Schermer, along with Kuntz, will add to the mix with dance and dialogue that helps propel the stories forward.

In addition to hearing about the heady decision Ban made to stay alive while being surrounded by people who wanted to see her die, audiences will also discover more life lessons via the stories of the four other women, the youngest of whom is a spry 71.

First, there’s poetry in motion with Dorothy Regal, who penned the missives set to dance that focus on the folly of men, daughters becoming mothers and likening an aging body to a high-maintenance structure that requires a boatload of cash to operate. Lynette Allen tap-dances her way through a lifetime of love and farewells, and Marge Moench shows that, hell, if you’re living, you’re still dying, so it’s better to live. Ban’s tale is next, followed by a fleet-footed duet with Barbara Sylvester and dancer Schermer that has them volleying both verbally and on the dance floor. Along the way, you’ll learn more about all five women, and the things they’ve discovered through the decades that have kept them on their feet.

“I couldn’t have asked for a more diverse pool of women,” Kuntz says. “I wasn’t picky about the story. I was looking for anybody who was willing to share. And that’s tough, at this age, to be willing to dance and share your story.”

During the intermission, while the performers visited the restroom or got a glass of water, Ban stopped to warn me that her piece might not be as cheery as the others, as she was a Holocaust survivor. When I watched her story unfold, though, I thought the opposite. As she told of the orchestra comprised of prisoners that provided a lifeline to the outside world, I saw that hers was a story of resilience and hope. Don’t take life for granted, she says. Enjoy life. It’s a message that bears repeating, no matter the age.