Wakonda's Dream
Encyclopedia
Wakonda's Dream is an English-language opera written by Anthony Davis
with a libretto
by Yusef Komunyakaa
. It premiered March 7, 2007 at Omaha
, Nebraska
's Orpheum. The premiere was a huge success and the work has been compared to that of Stephen Sondheim
due to the emotion and complexity of the music as well as the lack of a "hummable showtune."
It has involved several well-known people in the world of opera
and other musical and theatrical works. These people who have performed or directed it include Rhoda Levine
, Eugene Perry, Patrick Kilcoyne, Arnold Rawls, William Ferguson, Kristopher Irmiter, Mara Bonde, Phyllis Pancella, Joe Fitzgerald
, Earl Howard
and several other opera veterans.
past, Delores keeps the history of their people alive for her son. This only intensifies Jason’s ghostly connection to the long-dead Chief Standing Bear
, whose legacy is revealed in a choral rendering of the famous 1879 trial. As Jason grows from childhood to manhood, Standing Bear remains his spiritual guide, while Justin’s dismissal of his Indian birthright leads to tragedy and, ultimately, redemption.
music and history, he attended the annual Ponca pow-wow
in the Niobrara
region of Nebraska. Among the thousands of attendees, he found himself one evening next to a woman, who, along with her son, became the inspiration for the characters of Delores and Jason.
This woman told Davis that she lived on land where Standing Bear was buried, and that her then-five-year-old son sees and speaks to the spirit of the Ponca chief. In collaboration with Komunyakaa, the two evolved a drama in which Standing Bear serves as Jason’s guide as the boy grows from childhood (in act 1) to adulthood (in act 2). Conversely, society and alcoholism serve as the antagonists, although some children, particularly Sonny could be played rather villainously.
The history of the removal of the Indians to Oklahoma and the subsequent internment and trial are revealed through this communion and through a choral reenactment of the famous trial. Davis says, "I didn’t want to create a historical narrative or an account of the trial. That could be more easily accomplished in other media like television or film. In opera you have to find a way into the story.
In this gifted child we found an artistic prism to look at history and not just present history. Having a character who can envision the past enables you to realize the past in the present. [In Wakonda’s Dream] the past has a concrete effect on everyone in the opera." Komunyakaa, who was unable to attend the pow-wow with Davis, was, in his own words, "quite taken with the idea” of the visionary child, and “built the opera around that concept and process of discovery."
The opera’s stage director, Rhoda Levine, suggested Komunyakaa as librettist. She had had experience working with him on a project through Northwestern University
. The composer and poet immediately agreed to collaborate at an introductory meeting held in the offices of New York City Opera
in December 2002. Komunyakaa knew of Anthony Davis’ work before the meeting, and was intrigued by the potential partnership. Of his writing process for the project, Komunyakaa says, "I knew I wanted to stay very close to poetry in writing the libretto." He notes that his work "has always embraced aspects of history as well as the imagination."
When he was invited to write a libretto that included the history of the Standing Bear trial, he was amazed by the fact that American Indians in the late 1870s were not thought of as human beings, were denied property ownership and couldn’t appear in a court of law. Rhoda Levine, who was also brought on as creative consultant during the development of the project, also previously worked with Davis. Among her credits, she served in the same capacity as both director and dramaturge
with Davis on X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X when it premiered at New York City Opera in 1986.
About her role throughout the development of Wakonda’s Dream, Levine frequently refers to herself as the "audience advocate," a term she prefers to dramaturge. Levine describes the role of history in the story: "If one denies one's past, one's future is in some way impaired because your past informs your sense of the future. If you deny your roots, you lose a sense of your own identity. If one feels punished not by what they do but because of who they are – which is how Justin feels in our story – there is a sense of disconnect. He wants nothing to do with his native past. He feels it has limited his opportunities. But our past will always enrich who we are. That is the theme of Wakonda’s Dream, and it is a universal theme."
as "very simple. The action takes place on a raked surface surrounded by the chorus and a company of American Indian dancers. They are on stage throughout the entire performance, like spirit
s." Set designer Peter Harrison says, “The scenic design for Wakonda’s Dream approaches the piece on several levels to reflect the psychological and spiritual realities which co-exist musically and in the libretto
. The unmoored world of Justin and his family is a floating raked earthen plain, littered with the detritus of contemporary Native American existence – nature that has been drained of the life and fertility it once held for native people – and filled with the trash of civilization: a broken motorcycle
, old tires, crates, abandoned rusty oil drum
, etc." He continues, "The plain is also, on another level, the place where past ancestors have seen the Spirit of the earth, danced their shaman dances, and buried their dead to find a peace the modern world begrudges them. When Sonny or Arlington are on stage, I want them to stand out apart from the dancers, while the Labelles seem like they are more at peace while on stage."
order of appearance
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
with a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
. It premiered March 7, 2007 at Omaha
Omaha
Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
's Orpheum. The premiere was a huge success and the work has been compared to that of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
due to the emotion and complexity of the music as well as the lack of a "hummable showtune."
It has involved several well-known people in the world of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and other musical and theatrical works. These people who have performed or directed it include Rhoda Levine
Rhoda Levine
Rhoda Levine is an opera-director, choreographer and a faculty-member at several schools of music.Levine was born in New York, NY. She wrote the libretto for Opus Zoo by Luciano Berio and has also written children's books. She is the artistic director of Play It By Ear, an improvisational opera...
, Eugene Perry, Patrick Kilcoyne, Arnold Rawls, William Ferguson, Kristopher Irmiter, Mara Bonde, Phyllis Pancella, Joe Fitzgerald
Joe Fitzgerald
Joe Fitzgerald is one of the designers of the 2005 United States nickel. His design, President Jefferson with Handwritten Liberty, appears on the obverse of that coin. Fitzgerald, who is also an active and accomplished painter, was one of the twenty-four United States Mint Artistic Infusion...
, Earl Howard
Earl Howard
Earl Howard is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, saxophonist, synthesizer player and multi-instrumentalist.Howard is one of the pioneers of what is called “new” music. He has been in the industry for over thirty years...
and several other opera veterans.
Story
Wakonda’s Dream is about a contemporary Native American family, impacted by the historical events that occurred in Nebraska in 1879 that changed the legal status of American Indians to that of “human beings under the law” for the first time in U.S. history. The opera is the story of a mother, Delores, a father, Justin, and a son, Saxon, struggling to find their place as American Indians in contemporary society. Young Jason “sees things, feels things, knows things,” which terrifies his mother. Jason is also constantly teased by an older white boy, Sonny, and his brother Jimmy due to his ethnic background. Proud of her PoncaPonca
The Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
past, Delores keeps the history of their people alive for her son. This only intensifies Jason’s ghostly connection to the long-dead Chief Standing Bear
Standing Bear
Standing Bear was a Ponca Native American chief who successfully argued in U.S...
, whose legacy is revealed in a choral rendering of the famous 1879 trial. As Jason grows from childhood to manhood, Standing Bear remains his spiritual guide, while Justin’s dismissal of his Indian birthright leads to tragedy and, ultimately, redemption.
Evolution of the opera
As Anthony Davis was researching American IndianIndigenous languages of the Americas
Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
music and history, he attended the annual Ponca pow-wow
Pow-wow
A pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader". A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American...
in the Niobrara
Niobrara River
The Niobrara River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, running through the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska. The river drains one of the most arid sections of the Great Plains, and has a low flow for a river of its length...
region of Nebraska. Among the thousands of attendees, he found himself one evening next to a woman, who, along with her son, became the inspiration for the characters of Delores and Jason.
This woman told Davis that she lived on land where Standing Bear was buried, and that her then-five-year-old son sees and speaks to the spirit of the Ponca chief. In collaboration with Komunyakaa, the two evolved a drama in which Standing Bear serves as Jason’s guide as the boy grows from childhood (in act 1) to adulthood (in act 2). Conversely, society and alcoholism serve as the antagonists, although some children, particularly Sonny could be played rather villainously.
The history of the removal of the Indians to Oklahoma and the subsequent internment and trial are revealed through this communion and through a choral reenactment of the famous trial. Davis says, "I didn’t want to create a historical narrative or an account of the trial. That could be more easily accomplished in other media like television or film. In opera you have to find a way into the story.
In this gifted child we found an artistic prism to look at history and not just present history. Having a character who can envision the past enables you to realize the past in the present. [In Wakonda’s Dream] the past has a concrete effect on everyone in the opera." Komunyakaa, who was unable to attend the pow-wow with Davis, was, in his own words, "quite taken with the idea” of the visionary child, and “built the opera around that concept and process of discovery."
The opera’s stage director, Rhoda Levine, suggested Komunyakaa as librettist. She had had experience working with him on a project through Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. The composer and poet immediately agreed to collaborate at an introductory meeting held in the offices of New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
in December 2002. Komunyakaa knew of Anthony Davis’ work before the meeting, and was intrigued by the potential partnership. Of his writing process for the project, Komunyakaa says, "I knew I wanted to stay very close to poetry in writing the libretto." He notes that his work "has always embraced aspects of history as well as the imagination."
When he was invited to write a libretto that included the history of the Standing Bear trial, he was amazed by the fact that American Indians in the late 1870s were not thought of as human beings, were denied property ownership and couldn’t appear in a court of law. Rhoda Levine, who was also brought on as creative consultant during the development of the project, also previously worked with Davis. Among her credits, she served in the same capacity as both director and dramaturge
Dramaturge
A dramaturge or dramaturg is a professional position within a theatre or opera company that deals mainly with research and development of plays or operas...
with Davis on X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X when it premiered at New York City Opera in 1986.
About her role throughout the development of Wakonda’s Dream, Levine frequently refers to herself as the "audience advocate," a term she prefers to dramaturge. Levine describes the role of history in the story: "If one denies one's past, one's future is in some way impaired because your past informs your sense of the future. If you deny your roots, you lose a sense of your own identity. If one feels punished not by what they do but because of who they are – which is how Justin feels in our story – there is a sense of disconnect. He wants nothing to do with his native past. He feels it has limited his opportunities. But our past will always enrich who we are. That is the theme of Wakonda’s Dream, and it is a universal theme."
Music
Upon hearing Wakonda’s Dream, those familiar with X or other Davis works will be surprised by his inclusion of real "songs." Listeners will also hear blues, jazz and gospel, and well as underlying Native American rhythms, as interpreted by the composer. Anthony Davis describes the score for Wakonda’s Dream in this way: :Generally, what I’m doing is a synthesis. I have created something new from many diverse sources. My background draws on the African American tradition, jazz particularly. I developed my own voice as an opera composer that hopefully is not imitative or derivative. My work has a rhythmic quality to it, with rhythmic structure as its foundation. Even in my choral writing, the choir is like a drum."Vision for production
Levine describes the stage settingSetting
Setting may refer to:* A location where something is set* Set construction in theatrical scenery* Setting in fiction* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to engineer failure...
as "very simple. The action takes place on a raked surface surrounded by the chorus and a company of American Indian dancers. They are on stage throughout the entire performance, like spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
s." Set designer Peter Harrison says, “The scenic design for Wakonda’s Dream approaches the piece on several levels to reflect the psychological and spiritual realities which co-exist musically and in the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. The unmoored world of Justin and his family is a floating raked earthen plain, littered with the detritus of contemporary Native American existence – nature that has been drained of the life and fertility it once held for native people – and filled with the trash of civilization: a broken motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
, old tires, crates, abandoned rusty oil drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
, etc." He continues, "The plain is also, on another level, the place where past ancestors have seen the Spirit of the earth, danced their shaman dances, and buried their dead to find a peace the modern world begrudges them. When Sonny or Arlington are on stage, I want them to stand out apart from the dancers, while the Labelles seem like they are more at peace while on stage."
Originator/vocal parts/roles
- Eugene Perry/BaritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
/Justin Labelle
- Patrick Kilcoyne/Lyric BaritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
/Sonny Troce
- Kristopher Irmiter/Bass/Arlington
- Joe FitzgeraldJoe FitzgeraldJoe Fitzgerald is one of the designers of the 2005 United States nickel. His design, President Jefferson with Handwritten Liberty, appears on the obverse of that coin. Fitzgerald, who is also an active and accomplished painter, was one of the twenty-four United States Mint Artistic Infusion...
/Boy AltoAltoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
/Jimmy Troce
- Phyllis Pancella/Mezzo-SopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
/Delores Labelle
- Arnold Rawls/TenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
/Chief Standing BearStanding BearStanding Bear was a Ponca Native American chief who successfully argued in U.S...
- Derek Richardson/Boy SopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
/Bear Shield
- William Ferguson/TenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
/Jason Labelle
- Jonah Davis/Boy AltoAltoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
/Young Jason Labelle
- Mara Bonde/SopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
/Laura Arlington
- Lily Nunn/SopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
/Young Laura Arlington
- Darin Anderson/TenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
/Joe Carson
order of appearance
External links
- http://www.operaomaha.org/aboutoperaomaha/pressroom/downloads/wakondasdreampress.pdfPress release about Wakonda's Dream from Opera OmahaOpera OmahaOpera Omaha is an opera company in Omaha, Nebraska. It is well known for premiering Wakonda's Dream, a contemporary opera about Native Americans set in the Niobrara....
] - Opera Omaha's page on Wakonda's Dream
- http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060405/news_1c05davis.htmlSan Diego Union-Tribune story on Anthony Davis receiving Guggenheim grantGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
to produce Wakonda's Dream]