Paradise Interrupted
Paradise Interrupted is a new departure in my artistic practice, melding many long-term explorations into one work. The Woman in Paradise Interrupted is in search of an unattainable ideal in a world activated by her voice.
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The black garden is made from hundreds of laser-cut paper sheets that are assembled in a formation that creates tension between each individual sheet when pulled apart, enabling the garden to stand erect when open and return to a neat stack when collapsed. The form and volume of the garden on stage can be lengthened or shortened at will by the demand of the drama.
They become fully activated as digital actors, all the while remaining elusive. The ephemeral quality of the stage design provides a dreamlike setting for the drama, highlighting the psychological state of the Woman.
Jennifer Wen Ma | Paradise Interrupted
This approach to set design is inspired by the highly symbolic and spare kunqu stage, and Chinese literati landscape painting. In these largely monochromatic paintings, black ink dominates the visual language to create variations in the landscape, represents all colors, and emulates all forms. Black is the absence of light and simultaneously a combination of all color pigments. The duality of inclusiveness and expulsion gives great opportunity for artistic exploration.
- Vigilia di Natale a Swamp’s End (Italian Edition)?
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- Paradise Interrupted by Tom A. Levine.
The exquisite artistry of the kunqu movements deeply enriches this opera. The traditionally bare and open kunqu stage demands performers to be extremely expressive and codified in their song, dance and gesture to create the drama. She is framed by four powerful and rich western operatic male voices that symbolize elements of nature.
Installation opera Paradise Interrupted integrates opera, theater, dance, music, poetry, made-up words, installation, multi-media, Eastern and Western operatic spirits, voices, and instruments, all into one entity.
Chinese kunqu opera has years of tradition, in which the singer not only sings and acts, but also dances according to dramatic and emotional needs. Most of the gestures are symbolic and abstract yet full of meaning.
It ranges from the raunchy, raucous laugh to the clever turn of phrase, to the oddball joke. At the end, after the Woman frees herself from the confinement of her desire, she sings a simple yet powerful aria while the orchestra echoes the sound of dripping ink from the ink pool. Angela rated it did not like it Apr 11, The author came peddling this book to my office. Sean marked it as to-read Feb 11,
To create a new opera that brings together both kunqu opera singer and Western opera singer is not an easy task. Instead of simply pasting the two traditions together, I sought to create all the vocal and orchestral music anew and organically, while highlighting each of the very different traditions, aesthetics, styles, and characters.
When setting words with music, the language of the libretto is taken into careful consideration. Chinese language is a character-based language with different tones.
Synopsis and Team
Interactive technology enables a vast garden and a host of digital characters to interact with the protagonist and respond to her voice. The one-act opera Paradise Interrupted weaves together a story inspired by both the biblical Garden of Eden and the Chinese love story The Peony Pavilion. For the score, composer Huang Ruo musically integrates the spirit of Chinese tradition dating back to the Ming dynasty with new idioms of today. The narrative follows a Woman who searches for an unattainable ideal in a world activated by her voice. As she sings, a vast garden grows from an empty stage, and a host of characters come to life to accompany her on her journey.
These characters are created with live projections, generated by interactive technology. It will also serve as the inauguration of the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in She often unites unlikely elements into a single piece, creating sensitive, poetic and poignant works.
She is known for her large-scale installations, public works, and her role as a core creative team member and chief designer for visual and special effects for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Rich Wasserman rated it it was ok May 18, Lu rated it liked it Jun 10, Aimee Louck rated it it was ok Dec 26, Mary rated it it was amazing Apr 20, Taylor rated it it was ok May 09, Brenda Kelso rated it liked it Dec 19, Lara Dillon rated it it was ok Aug 31, Kim rated it it was amazing Aug 13, Tom Croom marked it as to-read Nov 27, Michele added it May 01, William David Hannah marked it as to-read Dec 22, Nicole marked it as to-read Apr 10, Eric Buetens added it Feb 07, Antoinette marked it as to-read Dec 22, Maha is currently reading it Jan 02, Sean marked it as to-read Feb 11, Holly marked it as to-read Jul 07, Brian Zantop marked it as to-read Oct 30, Zachary Teders added it Feb 04, Lee is currently reading it Feb 04, Jamie Whidden added it Mar 10, Nancy marked it as to-read Jul 25, Michele Barnes is currently reading it Jun 30, AL is currently reading it Aug 18, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
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It is the enemy of reality. We see a bad situation and optimism prevents us from extrapolating that. Instead we think, "Oh, it's bound to get better. Perhaps optimism is good for prison escapees, who have no choice but to plod on. The rest of us are not well served. It poisons our judgment. It just has more intrusive ways of presenting itself.