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USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Dates: May 10, 2013 to May 12, 2013
Location: Al Green Theatre
Lessons of love that are beautiful and tender, comic and tragic. Toronto Masque Theatre presents two masques drawn from two traditions: a Baroque classic from the West, John Blows Venus and Adonis (1683) and a reimagining of an ancient tale from the East, The Lesson of Da Ji (2013), by Alice Ping Yee Ho and librettist Marjorie Chan. Masque is a fusion of music, dance and theatre and Toronto Masque Theatre is one of the few companies in the world devoted to this form which flourished in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Lessons of Love will be a wonderful introduction to the masque form. Under the Artistic Direction of Larry Beckwith, who will also lead an ensemble of Baroque and Chinese instruments, the evening will feature soprano Vania Chan, tenor Derek Kwan, mezzo-Soprano Marion Newman and baritone Alexander Dobson. Dance drawn from both the Baroque and the Peking Opera traditions will be performed. Direction will be by Derek Boyes (The Lesson of Da Ji) and Marie-Nathalie Lacourisre (Venus and Adonis). Visual splendour is key feature of masque and the evening will feature projections designed by Caroline Guibault. Venus and Adonis Commissioned by Charles II and written by John Blow, this gorgeous, sensual masterpiece of the courtly masque features some of the most sublime music ever written. It tells how Venus fell in love with the mortal youth Adonis. While the goddess struggles with her amorous entanglements her son, Cupid, receives his own comic, romantic education. Told with a surprisingly feminist slant it tells us how we should seize the day in our pursuit of true love. Featuring Baroque dance choreographed by the acclaimed Marie-Nathalie Lacoursire. The Lesson of Da Ji Toronto Masque Theatre commissioned Alice Ping Yee Ho and Marjorie Chan to create a new masque Inspired by the true story of the Shang dynasty concubine Da Ji, and the King who enacted a tasty revenge on her secret lover; a revenge as grisly as anything Shakespeare conceived of in Titus Andronicus. In Ho and Chans version, Da Ji takes guquin music lessons from a young nobleman named Bo Yi. Chan has provided a rich and inventive script which drives to a surprising and powerful climax while Hos gorgeous music will blend eastern and western instruments, including the guquin that Da Ji learns to play. It will feature a performance by traditional Peking Opera dancer William Lau.
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