Education & Humanities
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Brooklyn 30 Lafayette Avenue PressDepartment Academy Brooklyn NY 11217- 1486 Elena Park . of Telephone: 718.636.4111 Susan Yung Music Fax: 718.857.202 1 Adriana Leshko 718.636 .4129 News Release Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Announces 1998-99 kaBAM and GenerationBAM Seasons of Innovative and Unusual Family Programming With works by Robert Wilson, Philip Glass, Les Deux Mandesand Ballet Preljocaj, BAM's Educationand HumanitiesDepartment Continues to Bringthe HighestQuality of PerformingArts Programmingto YoungAudiences BROOKLYN,SEPTEMBER 4, 1998---Following a highly successful inaugural season attended by more than 12 ,000 students-BAM 's Education and Humanities Department announces the 1998-99 kaBAM and GenerationBAM seasons. Innovative productions from around the world will be presented in Brooklyn for students grades 2-1 2, including the New York premiere of Promised Land co-produced by Les Deux Mondes and Teatro dell'Angolo, Don Byron's Jazz and Cartoons for Kids, and a special production of Theater Terra's Princess' Soup, performed for kaBAM students in English and in French for Generation BAM students studying French. Several performances featured in BAM's 1998 Next Wave Festival have also been chosen for these series, including Ballet Preljocaj's Romeo and Juliet, Monsters of Grace by Robert Wilson and Philip Glass, and the Kronos Quartet in its 25th anniversary season. Ticket prices range from $4-$8 for performances at the BAM Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn ) and the BAM Majestic Theater (651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn). For kaBAM and GenerationBAM ticket informat ion and reservations, please call 718 .636.4130. BAM Prefers VISAm. 00 ()) ()) ' I Education& Humanities BAM Education & Humanities' · 2 kaBAMSeason Schedule KronosQuartet BAM Majestic Theater October 23 at 10:30am Grades 2-8 In celebrationof its 25th anniversary, the membersof the KronosQuartet (David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt and Joan Jeanrenaud) have created a special performancefor kaBAM's young audiences. Works chosen include excerpts from a new arrangementof Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Chinese composer Tan Dun's Ghost Opera, played on authentic Chineseinstruments. In this unique introduction to classical music, music specialist Craig Woodsonwi ll help students create their own "treasure boxes" of sound, then conduct the students as they perform along with the Kronos Quartet. PromisedLand New YorkP remiere Les Deux Mondes and Teatrodell'Ango lo BAM Majestic Theater March 6 at 10:30am Grades4-8 (Also see Generation BAM description) "Promised Land is a wordlessbut remarkably eloquent history of the spaceship world on which we all travel." -The Toronto Star A collaborative effort betweenthe acclaimed Canadianyouth theaterco mpany Les Deux Mondes and the Italian Teatrodell 'Angolo has yielded this thought-provokingstory of human evolution. A theatrical love letter to Mother Earth, Promised Land tells the story of mankind, from prehistoricto modern times, as it unfolds beforean unlikely witness-a stone. Internationallyrecognized for its innovativest agings, Les Deux Mandes has once again createda work that is pure theater, in which rain falls, flowers blossomand nature comes alive on a stage bathed in painterly lighting. Seen in over 100 cities throughoutthe world since 1989, Promised Land will have its New York premiereas part of the kaBAM and GenerationBAM series. Founded in 1973 as the Theatrede la Marmaille, the Quebec-basedLes Deux Mandesi s codirectedby Daniel Meilleur, Monique Rioux and Michel Robidoux. The company has created 18 productions, includ ing Taleof Teekawhich was presentedin last year's kaBAMand GenerationBAM series and won three Les Masquesawa rds (the French-Canadianequivalent o f the TonyAward) for Best Production for Young Audiences, Best Set Designand Best Sound Environment. Teatrodell'Angolo was founded in the sixties by improvisationalactors , and is now one of Italy's most respectedtheater companies . Activei n two Turintheaters , the companyhas gained c ritical and public acclaim both in Italy and around the world. more... pre5S- re 1 c., . <...,u BAM Education & Humanities 3 Don Byron's Jazzand Cartoonsfor Kids BAM MajesticTheater March 12 at 10:30am Grades 2---8 (Also see Generation BAM description) To accommodatethe 1,200 students unable to attend last year's sold-out kaBAM performances,acclaimed jazz composerand clarinetist Don Byron returnswith an expandedversion of his multi-media Jazz and Cartoonsfor Kids. Byron takes his inspirationfor this programfrom his popularand influential hit album Bug Music. The album, inspired by an episodeof The Flintstonesentitled "Bug Music With Them Four Insects," resurrectsthe music of lesser-knownbandleaders John Kirby and RaymondScott while highlight ing early works by the great Duke Ellington. In Jazz and Cartoonsfor Kids, Byronfuses their music with some of the most popular cartoonsof the day, adding yet anotherdimension to their work. Princess' Soup New YorkPremiere TheaterTerra BAM Majestic Theater May 6 at 10:30am and 12:30pm Grades 2-6 (Also see GenerationBAM description) Theo Terra brings Princess' Soup from Holland to New Yorkfor the first time during the 1998 kaBAM and GenerationBAM series. Using gigantic sets and props, Terramingles beautiful puppets with live performersto create a tale of how creativity transformsone family's life. The story centerson a small boy who celebrateshis single mother's birthday by creatinga theaterout of a shoebox. Magically,the box comes alive on stage, transformingthe BAM MajesticTheater into a fairy tale world and he sets off in searchof the finest presenthe can dream up for his mother. In addition to the two kaBAM performances(in English), Princess'Soup will be performedonce in French( without Englishtranslat ion or supertitles)in the Generation BAM series, specifically for students studying Frenchas a part of BAM's Theater Lingua Series. TheaterTerra was founded in 1977 by Artistic Director,Theo Terra.Universal themes such as friendship, love, life and death are integratedinto TheaterTerra 's productionwith clarity and honesty. The combination of actors and puppets makes for surprising effects in scenesthat are often comic or emotionallytouching . In its native Holland, TheaterTerra has been awarded many of the top prizesawarded to theater for the young, including the Hans Snoek Prize,and the Puck Prizefor audience choice. more... BAM Education& Humanities~ GenerationBAM SeasonSchedule Romeoand Juliet Ballet Preljocaj Music by Sergei Prokofiev BAM Opera House October 22 at 2pm Grades 9-12 Continuing the tradition of bringing innovative performances of Shakespeareto students,Generation BAM presentsFrance 's Ballet Preljocajin its productionof Romeo and Juliet in one performance for high school students. Choreographed by Angelin Preljocajto Sergei Prokofiev's score, Shakespeare's enduring story about the immense power of love and its tragic possibilities is told in a contemporarystyle . Inspired by GeorgeOrwe ll's 1984, the production's futuristic sets (by comic book designerEnki Bilal) and costumes(by Bilal and Fred Sathal) highlight the modern undercurrentsof totalitarianismfound within this classictale of love. The Capuletscomprise the oppressiveruling class and the Montaguesare the disenfranchisedhome lesswho are policedwith searchlights, creating an atmosphereof heightened tension for the thwarted lovers. Romeo and Juliet is part of Dancinginto the Futureand ShakespeareTeaches , two in-school educational programs. Dancingi nto the Future, through its workshops,allo ws students the opportunity to work with and observethe creative processesof renownedprofessional dancers and choreographers. Pastparticipants have included Chuck Davis, Victoria Marks, membersof the Mark Morris DanceCompany and the Merce Cunningham RepertoryGroup . ShakespeareTeaches is both a developmentp rogram for teachersand a pre-performanceco urse for students. During the multi-week study course, members of the BAM and RoyalShakespeare C ompany Education staffs work with teachersto expand their understandingof Shakespeare's works, while their students focus on language, character and action via classroomstudy, workshopsand performances. ' Monsters of Grace Music by Philip Glass Designand visual conceptby RobertWilson BAM Opera House December1 1 at 1pm Grades9- 12 In what could be calledan introductionto the arts for the "ComputerG eneration," GenerationBAM presents Monsters of Grace, stagedirec tor/designerRobert W ilson and composer Philip Glass' three-dimensional, comput er-animated70mm format film with live music and vocals. This continually evolving work combinesadv anced cinematicand stereoscopicanima tion technologies with Wilson's visuals and Glass' composition. Monstersof Grace is a radical departure from their 1976 landmarkopera, E instein on the Beach, seena t BAM in 1984 and 1992. In what will be for many an eye-opening introduction to opera, student audienceswi ll view Monstersof Grace through special polarized lenses with frames designedby l.a.Eyeworks.The 68-minute production "offers what could be a glimpse of 21st century music theater-if we're lucky. ..a sumptuous play of images, color and movement, supported by the unearthly glory of one of Glass'most affectingsco res (San Francisco Chronicle)." The libretto, sung in English, is basedon the spiritual poetry of 13th century Persianmyst ic Jelaluddin Rumi, the original whirling dervish, and is here transformedby Glass into intoxicatinglove songs performed live by Philip