ROUND III GRANTS

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Washington Performing Arts Society
(Washington, DC)

A collaboration between U.S. scholar-composer Bernice Johnson Reagon and Ivory Coast-based opera/theater director Souleymane Koly that will result in an opera exploring the similarities and contrasts between African and African American culture of the late 20th-century. Although the work is characterized as an opera, it will differ vastly from its Western European counterpart in its conception and performance, both of which come from a distinctly African — that is, Ivory Coast-based — perspective. This collaboration marks the first time Ms. Reagon and Mr. Koly will work with artists from each other’s cultures. After its premiere in Abidjan in 2000, Mr. Koly’s Ensemble Koteba will tour the piece throughout the United States.

The Kitchen
(New York, NY)

A collaboration between U.S.-based composer Bun-Ching Lam and Chinese dramatist Xu Ying that will culminate in a production of a full-length bilingual chamber opera titled "The Return of Madame Wenji." The work is inspired by the true story of Tsai Wenji, who lived during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 210 A.D.). The title character was abducted by an invading Mongolian army and held in captivity for 12 years. The work will draw on operatic traditions of China and Western Europe and explore the themes of ethnicity, exile, repatriation, family bonds, and women’s experience of war. Though the artists share a common cultural heritage, they possess distinct differences in their training and geographic backgrounds. "The Return of Madame Wenji" will have its premiere at The Kitchen in March 2000.

Walker Art Center
(Minneapolis, MN)

A collaboration between U.S. composer Eve Beglarian, Chinese-born director-singer Chen Shi-Zheng and Japanese noh actor Akira Matsui. This project also features U.S. taiko artist Kenny Endo, Korean pansori singer-actress Kwan Kwon Soon and Chinese opera artist Zhou Long. Together these artists will create a new work, entitled "Forgiveness," which will interweave the past, present and future of China, Korea and Japan and explore related cultural notions of forgiveness, shame, guilt, apology and redemption. Owing to the cultural, musical and artistic distinctiveness of the collaborators, the completed work will include different endings, one from each artist’s perspective. "Forgiveness" will be premiered at the Walker Art Center in early 2000 and then tour to Burlington, Vermont and New York City.

La Peña Cultural Center
(Berkeley, CA)

A collaboration between Filipino composer Joey Ayala and Filipina American choreographer Pearl Ubungen will result in a work titled "The Alameda Project," that will use San Francisco’s Alameda Naval Base as its setting. "The Alameda Project" will consist of a series of historically-based vignettes that span from the U.S. acquisition of the Philippines in 1898 to the present day. These will be set at different sites along the naval base’s main thoroughfare. The collaborators intend to bridge the gap that exists within the Filipino diaspora and its origins by transcending geographical, political and cultural barriers through music and dance. The collaborators will address these issues in a series of residency activities involving Filipino youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. The work will premiere at the Alameda Naval Base in 2000.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
(San Francisco, CA)

U.S. composer Bob Ostertag, Salvadorean theater artist Baltazar López and experimental filmmaker Pierre Hébert will create a new work exploring issues surrounding memory, consciousness, and personal, social and political responsibility. Working with themes and images gathered from figures involved in El Salvador’s protracted socio-political struggles, the piece will be presented on a stage that will be transformed into a three-dimensional memory grid, involving projections of slides, film and video. This collaboration will afford the artists an opportunity to further extend their work in the direction of multimedia while allowing them to use their political and artistic backgrounds as the catalysts for the creation of new work. The completed work will be premiered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 1999, and tour the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Mabou Mines
(New York, NY)

A collaboration between Mexican artists Liliana Felipe and Jesusa Rodríguez, and U.S. artists Catherine Sasanov, Ruth Maleczech and Julie Archer. The artists will create a musical and visual setting of poems titled "Las Horas de Belén/A Book of Hours." The work has as its focal point Belén, a 17th-century refuge founded as a safe haven for women. It later became one of Mexico’s most notorious prisons. The collaborators seek to create a cultural paradigm in music, lyrics, light and choreography that explores the lives of marginalized women in Mexico from the time of the Belén sanctuary to the present. In an effort to create a work that encourages dialogue between audience and performers, the artists will structure the work in the style of cabaret that encourages audience commentary. The work will be premiered at Mabou Mines’ ToRoNaDa Theater in May 1999.