January Play On! Materials
Beethoven’s leonore
This month, we are focusing on the story of Leonore. It’s a story about a woman whose courage and love help her to save her husband from prison. We will meet with guest Artists Valerie Bart, costume and scenic designer; Curtis Bannister, tenor; Tamrin Goldberg, dancer; and Kyra Sims, French horn. We learn about telling stories through costume, voice, dance and meet a brass instrument.
See a trailer from our upcoming DVD release of the 1805 version of Beethoven’s only opera:
ACTIVITIES
Costume and Character
Below are pictures of costumes designed by Valérie for brave female characters.
What do you notice about the costumes? Is the clothing modern or old fashioned? What might the characters do in these clothes? Is it for a special activity or occasion? What does it tell you about who they are, where they live, the weather, their job, or their personality?
Pick a picture book from your shelf. Notice the clothing- what does it tell you about the people and their story? Who are the characters? What are they wearing? What kinds of shoes? Jewelry? Hats? What colors- are they vibrant or dull? Why do you think that is? What else can you tell about these characters from their costumes?
Draping and Disguises
In the story of Leonore, she must disguise herself to go under cover into the prison and save her husband Florestan. Valérie shows us a few ways to turn a piece of cloth into a costume, or a dish towel into a disguise!
Here are several ways that people around the world and throughout time have wrapped rectangular cloth into clothing (featuring: Cambodia, Scotland, Greece, Indonesia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire)
Try some of these or make up your own with a cloth, towel, or sheet. How does it make you feel? What kind of a character have you become? What is your story?
Inspiring power/In their footsteps
As part of the choreography for Leonore’s aria, Emma and Tamrin looked at photographs of women in history and current events showing up to speak truth to power. They copied the poses of these women and incorporated them into the dance. Take a look at the photos here. Can you reconstruct each pose with your own body? Can you weave them into a dance?
Now here is a picture of our production. Here is Leonore in the final scene. What does her stance say about her?
Nature’s power
Tamrin shows us about shifting weight to find stability and moving with flexibility like a tree that bends so as not to break. We hug ourselves to blossom like a flower. We can learn a lot about strength and motion from watching nature. Sometime today, go for a walk: notice nature around you: the clouds, the trees, a blade of grass, even water in the gutters or a stream. How do these elements move? Try moving like them.
Vocal Power
In this singing competition Curtis delivers 4 totally different pieces in 4 minutes and has to switch quickly and completely from one emotion to another. He uses his breath to leave one emotion behind and reset- to be sad one moment and joyous the next.
Try this for yourself. You can set a timer for 1 minute. During that minute, you can be as sad or silly or angry or loving as you want. Pick one feeling and really go for it. Then when the timer stops, take a deep breath, and leave it all behind to make room for a new feeling.
French horn in the family
Kyra plays the French horn, part of the brass family. Here she is playing with the Broadway Sinfonietta. You will see instruments in the string family, wind family, brass, and percussion. See if you can identify them all as they pop up.
Build your own Brass
Kyra is an incredible horn player. Want to try it for yourself? New York Philharmonic has a great page on horns and how to make one yourself! Check out more of the music activities for kids here.
Get Some Attention
Horns are wonderful for calling across distance and space. We now from Kyra that the French horns were originally created as hunting horns, to be played outdoors. Here, Kyra uses her French horn to play on a fire escape in the city- sending a message of gratitude and hope. What message would you like to call out on a horn?
OPERA STARTS WITH OH! IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM PART OF
KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD LOVE THIS?
Send them this link and have them register for the next class or the full series!