El Mozote, a multi-genre work based on the 1981 massacre of Salvadoran civilians by the government's army, was performed Friday in Eisenhower Auditorium. The Core Ensemble and the Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre combined modern dance sequences and eclectic music to depict the strength of spirit that grew amid great tragedy in El Salvador.

Pascal Rioult, choreographer of El Mozote, traveled to El Salvador and studied the massacre of El Mozote before deciding to take on this project.

"I wanted the piece to transcend place and time. Right now someplace in the world, the same thing is happening," Rioult said. "I wanted the piece to talk about something universal -- the resilience of the human spirit."

The massacre at El Mozote was one of numerous violent acts that were part of El Salvador's 10-year civil war. The country had experienced retaliation on the sides of both the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a leftist guerrilla movement, and the Salvadoran government, a military junta. Considering FMLN a communist threat, the Salvadoran government pursued the leftist guerrillas. The effort culminated in 1981 when the Atlacatl Battalion, a special unit of the Salvadoran Army, entered the small village of El Mozote.

Following a night trapped in their homes by members of the army, the people of El Mozote were separated into groups of men, women and children. Next, the army proceeded to shoot and kill residents of the village and then burn their remains, according to a report by the United Nations Truth Commission.

In 1992, a forensic team investigated the remains of the massacre at El Mozote in a report to the U.N. Truth Commission. The team found the bullets and weapons used in the massacre were manufactured in the United States. Research also proved U.S. military had trained the members of the Atlacatl Battalion.

Rioult said creating a piece such as El Mozote required great sensitivity, given the political circumstances surrounding the event. Instead of exploring the political implications of the massacre, Rioult was more interested in studying the spiritual consequences on the Salvadoran people.

"I fell in love with those people; they are remarkable," Rioult said. "I felt a great mix of simplicity and spirituality there."

Now the political situation in El Salvador is a less violent one. Jeff Colledge, a resident of Altoona, lived in El Salvador for 14 months with his wife, a native of the country, and said the political climate is improving. Years after civil war ravaged the land, communities are rebuilding, Colledge said.