KASSANDRA
Kassandra
The prophetess no one believes….
KASSANDRA
A new voice & dance work exploring the iconic prophetess whom no one believes
Performance premiere: June 28 & 29 - Dancestry: anew presented by Shay Ishii Dance Company
Long Center, for the Performing Arts. Austin, Texas
Misha Penton: soprano & libretto
Meg Brooker: dancer, choreographer, concept
Text adapted from John Harvey’s haunting translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon
(Reclaiming) Kassandra is based on the prophetess of Aeschylus' Agamemnon. The piece began as a collaboration between myself and dancer, choreographer, and dance scholar, Meg Brooker, with Meg generating the idea for exploring the character. Meg and I have previously collaborated on a number of projects, including an operatic monodrama of my own conception based on Klytemnestra, another Greek anti-heroine in the same story-family as Kassandra (composer: Dominick DiOrio).. Due to my long-standing collaborative relationship with Meg, our brief initial discussions and emails yielded the framework for versioning: a ten to fifteen-minute live performance based in semi-structured improvisational practices which was presented on an evening-length dance festival (Dancestry Anew by the Shay Ishii Company in Austin, Texas at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, 28 and 29 June 2019); a dance film which I will shoot and edit (a 'take' on the theme conceived by Meg, for which I will also create the music); and a music film / music video of my conception on the theme with Meg’s dance work.
The adaptation of John Harvey's Kassandra monologues from his translation of Agamemnon also inspired the Klytemnestra operatic monodrama.
A five-minute excerpt and the full-length, 10-minute performance of Kassandra from the June 29, 2019 performance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, Texas: