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About A HOUSE IN BALI
Music by Evan Ziporyn
Directed by Jay Scheib
Libretto by Paul Schick, additional dialogue by Evan Ziporyn
After Colin McPhee's A House in Bali, and the writings of Margaret Mead and Walter Spies
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Gamelan Salukat with Dewa Ketut Alit
Peter Tantsits as Colin McPhee
Nyoman Triyana Usadhi as Sampih
Anne Harley as Margaret Mead
Timur Bekbosunov as Walter Spies
Kadek Dewi Aryani, I Nyoman Catra, Desak Madé Suarti Laksmi
"an ingenious and often beautiful fusion of
contemporary classical strains and Balinese gamelan"
—San Francisco Chronicle
The hypnotic sounds of a 16-member Balinese gamelan intertwine with western opera and Balinese singers, traditional dance, live video feeds, and the pulsating post-minimalism of the Bang on a Can All-Stars in A House in Bali, an innovative new opera by Evan Ziporyn, directed by Jay Scheib.
Based on the memoirs of trailblazing composer Colin McPhee, the work re-imagines first contact between cultures in 1930s Bali through the prism of the cross-cultural present. This mixed-media performance follows the course of McPhee's sojourn to Bali, his encounters with anthropologist Margaret Mead and painter Walter Spies, and their ultimately tragic relationship with dancer I Sampih, a Balinese youth whom McPhee mentors after the boy saves his life. Images from 1930s photographs - many by Mead herself - and music of the period - from Bali and from McPhee's own hand - merge with live re-creations and (dis)simulations in this bold study of artifice, connection, and alienation, set on the crossroads of the cultural and the personal.
Featuring Bang on a Can All-Stars, Gamelan Salukat with Dewa Ketut Alit, Peter Tantsits, Kadek Dewi Aryani, Desak Madé Suarti Laksmi, I Nyoman Catra, Timur Bekbosunov, Anne Harley, Nyoman Triyana Usadhi.
Choreography by Kadek Dewi Aryani and I Nyoman Catra
Set design by Sara Brown
Costume design by Oana Botez-Ban
Lighting design by Peter Ksander
Sound design by Andrew Cotton
Video design by Jay Scheib and AKA
Produced by Bang on a Can
A House in Bali is made possible by generous support from the NIB Foundation. A House in Bali was commissioned by Real Time Opera with support from the LEF Foundation, the Argosy Foundation, and the The Byrne Foundation.
For more information: info@bangonacan.org |
