By Karla Reyes

A dance play born in Slovakia and New York, and inspired by a novel about the Holocaust, will make it way to CSUSM later this month.

“The Painted Bird,” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 in Arts 111, is a dance-theater trilogy created  in 2011 by director Pavel Zustiak and Palissimo Dance Co. It is loosely based on a 1965 novel by Jerzy Kosinski about a young Eastern European Jewish boy’s experiences during the Holocaust. Zustiak based the dance piece on a scene in the novel where the boy sees a brilliantly painted bird killed by its own flock because the other birds think it’s an imposter.

Zustiak will bring the first part of the trilogy, “Bastard,” to CSUSM as part of the Arts & Lectures Series at the invitation of faculty members Karen Schaffman and Judy Bauerlein.  The piece will be performed by dancer Jaroslav Vinarsky and violist Christian Fedrikson.

Zustiak has made this play interdisciplinary by using dance, live music and video to tell the story about how acceptance is vital to redeeming our socially corrupt society.

This play will be part of the annual CSUSM New Play Festival. Tickets are free for students with ID, $10 for staff and faculty and $20 for the public, and must be ordered in advance at  www.csusm.edu/al.