past events: peregrine arts expo 2006
Locus Solus
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June 10 + 11, 2006full description >><< hide description
LOCUS SOLUS takes audiences on a bizarre sonic, textual and visual tour of the mythical estate "Locus Solus" ("Place of Solitude") chronicled in the infamous 1914 Surrealist novel of the same title by Raymond Roussel. In the novel, Canterel, a fictional genius-inventor, explorer and owner of Locus Solus, takes his guests on a narrated tour of a wild menagerie of fantastic inventions and freakish curiosities that he has rescued from the far corners of human history and mythic memory.
Acclaimed New York composer Phil Kline's world premiere music-theater installation, Locus Solus, offers an updated tour of Canterel's wild world, as performed by renowned violinist Todd Reynolds, singer Theo Bleckmann and the virtuosic Talujon Percussion Quartet.
The work was installed at Philadelphia's own Locus Solus, the mysterious and little-known historic Ryerss Museum & Library in the Northeast. Also known as Burholme Mansion, the house was built by merchant Joseph Waln Ryerss in 1859 and dramatically overlooks Burholm Park, one of the highest vistas in Philadelphia. The mansion is home to a massive and eccentric collection of artifacts and antiquities from around the world, collected during the Ryerss family's extensive travels and exotic sojourns, from Europe, to Africa, to the Far East.
Phil Kline, music + concept
Todd Reynolds, violin + electronics
Theo Bleckmann, voice + victrola
Talujon Percussion Quartet
Fairmount Park Commission
Friends of Ryerss Museum & Library
Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!
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June 24 + 25, 2006full description >><< hide description
DEADLY SHE-WOLF ASSASSIN AT ARMAGEDDON! is a martial arts music-theater spectacle that tells the story of a cunning and beautiful assassin, who–like a deadly she-wolf–leaves a trail of deception, revenge, double-crossing and death in her wake. The She-Wolf story is told through narration and high-energy martial arts choreography, accompanied by a live score combining traditional Japanese music with driving Afro-Asian jazz.
This world premiere work by jazz composer-performer Fred Ho and playwright Ruth Margraff pays homage to the 1970s Japanese manga series "Lone Wolf and Cub" ("Kozure Ookami"), which has inspired many adaptations and works in comic books and film over the past few decades. The piece references a range of historic traditions and pop culture icons, from Japanese kabuki, to 1970s martial arts genre films, to Asian animation.
The work was performed by Fred Ho's revolutionary East-West Afro Asian Music Ensemble, with action by Big Red Media martial arts dance-theater. Award-winning martial artist Tsuyoshi Kaseda created the choreography, with direction by Sonoko Kawahara and design by Carolyn Wong.
Fred Ho, music + concept
Fred Ho & Ruth Margraff, co-playwrights
Sonoko Kawahara, director
Tsuyoshi Kaseda, choreographer
Coleen Scott, costumes
Carolyn Wong, lighting
Jan Mizushima, stage director
Afro Asian Music Ensemble
Big Red Media Martial Arts Theater