Multi-directional Opera
for the 21st Century
for the 21st Century
Whaletone Opera - Act One - In the beginning
We wrote a story, invented music, created songs, made new dances and ate banana cake.Everybody helped to create a shogi composition, Arima used electronics to create a ballet, we worked with a radical noh singer, we made the music and designed the costumes and choreographed movement for a new minyo (folk) dance, we worked in English and Japanese, we sang and acted a banana cake recipe and gave cake to the audience and much more…
We worked together for three evenings (Wednesday-Friday), all day Saturday and half of Sunday. Very few people knew each other when we started. We were all good friends by the end.
Guest Artists : Arima - electronics; Imai - noh singer; Naoko and Shin - koto
Act One Story
A girl lives in the cold North. She is fed up with her job and wants to go to a southern land. She travels to where the banana trees grow. There she makes banana cake and eats and eats and eats.One day a rabbit arrives. He presents her with some scales and she realises her weight - heavy. The rabbit suggests ballet dancing. The girl tries, but does not lose weight. She tries folk dancing, but still with no success. So she decides to become a sumo wrestler. What next for Sumo Girl?
