THE OPERA FLAT 2
Opera Flat 2 was a new production of YO! Opera in the multi-cultural neighbourhood of Overvecht. It involved residents of a highrise apartment building at the Faust Dreef and children of a nearby primary school. The project started in early March 2007. It built on the earlier experiences of Opera Flat 1 (in 2005), the Opera ‘Water’ (which also involved primary school children, but more like extras than as contributing participants, and the opera/sound installation ‘Kuil’ [’Pit’] (2006).
Watch a video registration of the Kuil process:
‘Kuil’ also worked on a pre-established concept - an opera on extinct animals composed and performed by professional artists - but with built-in space for children’s participation. The children’s contributions consisted of poems and sound effects of extinct animals and footprints in plaster. But the writing process proved too abstract for many of them, partly because there was not enough time for this activity.
Watch the reaction of one of the teachers regarding ‘Water’ and ‘Kuil’:
To prepare the children better for the writing process, this time more space was allowed for drama lessons that would stimulate their imagination. In April and May 2007, these drama and writing workshops were held with kids aged 8 - 10 at the Grote Trekdreef primary school. It resulted in the creation of original librettos for 1-minute operas. On 11 May 2007, the children handed them over to 25 student-composers from 9 Dutch conservatories.
Watch a video registration of the Opera Flat process up to and including the ritual handover:
All these composers finished writing the music for these librettos by mid July and after the summer holidays they started rehearsing the mini operas with student opera singers. The day before the YO Opera Festival, the composers and singers gave a try out at the Grote Trek primary school.
Watch video:
Opera Flat 2 was a good example of a ’soft-core’ community art project, one which is driven by a pre-established artistic concept (1-minute opera in a door opening) but with participatory space for residential input. As you can see in the above video, the process began in March 2007, when YO! artistic director Anthony Heidweiller and YO! education officer Debora Patty went door to door in the Faust Dreef to recruit residents willing to host a singer and participate in a residents choir. This process continued through April, when on Saturday the 7th Heidweiller held an impromptu concert in the mailbox lobby of the Faust Dreef to further enthuse the residents. Throughout this period, the children from the nearby Grote Trekdreef primary school worked on their librettos, handing them over to the composers in May. Barring a brief video report from one of the composers (which was screened at the primary school before the summer), the composition and rehearsal process took place beyond the children’s scope of vision (and experience). They were only reconnected to the project on 2 November 2007 when the mini-operas were presented as a try out in the classrooms. Several school children and a few of their parents came to see the show on Saturday 3 November.
Watch impression of the performances on November 3:
In general, children were proud of seeing their creations produced in this manner, but some were disappointed that they did not get to perform themselves (which they had expected when the project was first presented to them). Those criticisms will undoubtedly be processed in the sequel, Opera Flat 3, which will go into development this coming fall.
Watch a video of how Jani and his mother experienced the performance:
