Nancy Wake (1912–2011) was an agent for the Special Operations Executive and the most
wanted woman in France during WWII. She was called the “White Mouse” because she was
the one who always got away.
Photo by National Archives, U.K.
When dancer and USF Sarasota-Manatee student Natalia Chersia steps onto the stage as Nancy Wake in Women of Resistance, she takes on the life of a history-making woman who was shaped by war, courage and loss. Chersia channels the legendary World War II resistance fighter known as the “White Mouse,” introducing the audience to a highly decorated secret agent for the British Special Operations Executive and a prominent leader in the French Resistance during World War II who became known as the “White Mouse” for her ability to elude capture.
Wake’s journey as a resistance fighter is one of little-known stories of seven heroic women who helped the Allies defeat Fascism during WWII told in Women of Resistance, a production that will make its Tampa debut on March 25-26 at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center.
“Anyone who is trying to fight something can relate to this,” Chersia said. “That’s why it matters.”
Created by Sarasota artist Vicki Chelf, the production blends Chelf’s art with powerful dance performances to give life to the women who changed the course of the war.
The production began when Chelf was visiting the small town of Montauban in the south of France and discovered a pile of soggy newspapers from the early 20th century in the basement of the house where she was staying. Soon after, she visited a museum in the town dedicated to the French Resistance and was moved by the stories she learned there of the women who were instrumental in pushing back against Nazi occupation. “It was just very emotional for me when I learned how important women were to defeating the Nazis,” she said, adding the more she read about the role women played in fighting fascism, the more motivated she was to tell their stories.
Chelf wanted to use the old newspapers in a series art pieces, and put the two experiences together to create the series of seven large scale portraits of the women: actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr; Wake, a guerilla leader; entertainer and spy Josephine Baker; resistance fighter Andree Peel, radio operator Noor Inayat Khan; war photographer Lee Miller and spy Virginia Hall.
A nationally and internationally trained dancer, Chersia had retired from fulltime
ballet training to pursue her studies at USF Sarasota-Manatee; the role of Nancy Wake
called her back to the stage.
Photos by Women of Resistance.
A British citizen and born in New Zealand, Wake's journey into the resistance was driven by a deep personal conviction formed years before the war. While working as a freelance journalist in the 1930s, she witnessed firsthand the brutality of the Nazi regime during assignments in Berlin and Vienna. When Germany invaded France in 1940, Wake was living in Marseille and chose to stay and fulfill her earlier pledge to fight Nazism. Her first husband, French industrialist Henri Fiocca, was tortured and executed by the Gestapo in 1943 for refusing to reveal her whereabouts.
Natalia Chersia is active in USFSM campus leadership, including directing the directs
the team of Peer Advisor Leaders.Her efforts, which included parachuting into occupied France, led her to become one of the most highly decorated women on the Allied side of WWII. She died in 2011 at the age of 98.
When Chelf returned to Sarasota and completed the artworks honoring the women, she partnered with Sarasota Contemporary Ballet to bring the added dimension of storytelling through dance to the project. That’s where Chersia comes in as a then-principal dancer at Endedans Contemporary Ballet in Sarasota. Endedans founder Tania Vergara is the choreographer for Women of Resistance. “Vicki was so adamant about the fact that she wanted to get these stories out,” Chersia said. “I thought it was such a powerful thing.”
For Chersia, who devotedly trained nationally and internationally in ballet until her college years, the production has been an opportunity to return to the stage while continuing to be a leader in the USFSM campus community. She will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree and psychology and has been admitted to USF’s Mental Health Counseling M.A. program. She hopes to work with young athletes and dancers on managing the mental health aspects of their sports and artistic disciplines. Chersia also directs the team of Peer Advisor Leaders on the Sarasota-Manatee campus and has served as a student director on USF’s Campus Activities Board, an orientation leader and a tutor.
“I always thought ballet was the career I would pursue,” she said in a recent interview. “But mental health came up in my own journey, and I wanted to understand it more.”
Click image to enlarge.That intention drew her immediately to Women of Resistance, a show that invites audiences to reflect on the universal themes of bravery, identity and the cost of resistance.
“The fact that it was inspired by an artist, and that it was about powerful women, I was already sold,” she said.
As she researched Wake’s life, the role deepened. Wake was tough, rebellious, unapologetic — a sharp contrast to the delicate, lyrical roles Chersia had often performed. Onstage, Wake smokes, drinks and moves boldly and unapologetically.
“I’m not someone who smokes. I don’t drink that often. I’ve never had roles like that,” Chersia said. “But learning about her story was so inspiring. I wanted to bring her to life.”
That process began with reading biographies and transcripts provided by the production’s creators, but it evolved through movement. “The more I danced her, the more I learned,” she said. “I was able to channel her personality into the choreography. And every time, I realize something new about her and about myself.”
Women of Resistance
In recognition of this powerful and thought-provoking performance, USF World is proud to sponsor a limited number of complimentary tickets for each show, available to USF students, faculty, staff, and USF Network France partners.