NOVEMBER 14 • 2024 | 53
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University of Judaism in Los Angeles. An 
important teacher was the late Benjamin 
Zemach, who spent his retirement years 
in Israel, a Trocks performance locale 
where the encore dance has been the 
hora.
In the upcoming Trocks performances, 
the guest conductor leading the Detroit 
Opera Orchestra also has Jewish heritage. 
Beatrice Affron, longtime conductor for 
Philadelphia Ballet, is Sephardic on her 
mother’s side and Ashkenazi 
on her father’s side.
Affron’s interest in per-
forming music started at age 
4 when her father gave her 
a violin and hired a teach-
er. She is now surrounded 
by musicians at home as 
well as work. Her husband, 
Larry Scripp, teaches at the Boston 
Conservatory, and her daughter and step-
daughter are musicians.
Affron first conducted for the Trocks 
last spring at the Kennedy Center in 
Washington as they celebrated their anni-
versary. 
“Part of the magic and skill of the 

Trocks is that they’re doing the tra-
ditional choreography of programs 
choreographed in the 19th century, but 
there’s always a thread of humor run-
ning through it,
” said Affron, who has 
been guest conductor for the Atlanta 
Ballet, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, 
Miami City Ballet, Nashville Ballet and 
Oklahoma City Ballet.
“That’s what is so difficult to do, and 
they do extremely well. The dancing 
is done with great seriousness. They’re 
doing steps created for women, and 
there’s no compromise choreographically 
or artistically. The audience is always 
aware that it’s being done with a wink.
”
Affron said she has never been in the 
pit of a performance with more laughter. 
“These are shows that should real-
ly appeal to all age groups,
” said the 
Philadelphia conductor since the 1990s. 
“What the Trocks do so brilliantly is that 
they show the humanity of it. They give 
the audience a glimpse of the personali-
ties underneath the makeup and the joy 
of dance. It was great for me to experi-
ence something so new in something I’ve 
been part of for 30 years.
”

Affron’s previous visits to Michigan 
have been to perform with Philip Glass in 
Detroit and Ann Arbor and to watch an 
apprentice, Na’Zir McFadden, as assistant 
conductor with the Detroit Symphony 
Orchestra.
“The collaborative nature of the 
orchestra appeals to me,
” the Yale gradu-
ate said. “
All this music brings my family 
closer.
” 

Beatrice 
Affron

IZILIAEV

Details
Les Ballets Trockadero 
de Monte Carlo will 
perform at 7:30 p.m. 
Saturday, Nov. 23, and 
2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 
24, at the Detroit Opera 
House, 1526 Broadway. 
Tickets start at $30. 
detroitopera.org. 

The dance company dressed for a 
performance of Paquita

