DANCE-DRAMA

Adonis

Around the Greenwood Tree

Music for Dance with Chamber Ensemble

Rites at the Well

OPERAS

Yoseh for alto, baritone solos and chorus, orchestra

 

around the greenwood tree

 

 

music by John Craig Cooper

story by John McConville

Synopsis

The story begins on planet, Light, where a Goddess asks her beloved, the innocent Star Man, to go to the town, Greenwood, a barren and fearful farm community on planet, Earth. Her purpose is to bring love, life and green back to the earthly community of Greenwood. The Star Man descends to earth on a shooting star and lands at the foot of the dying Greenwood Tree. He is transformed into a dark skinned gypsy balloon man stigmatized by a goatfoot. Poor and homeless, he is a most unlikely candidate to bring any kind of redemption to Greenwood, a community incrusted by racial,r religious and class predudices. Fortunately he has the power to communicate with birds and trees and in them finds the communal support he needs to maneuver among the labyrinth of crazy, hysterical, funny, and weird people who inhabit the Greenwood community. The plot takes us into the lives of these inhabitants: The homely Farmers and their industrious, bubbly Milkmaid daughter looking for a mate; The Fishmonger Malones and their daughter Molly who is in love with a shy introverted yet romantic young man named Kai, who in turn is the son of the rich but arrogant Tailors (The Tailors don't have the time of day for the Fishmongers which makes Kai's and Molly's distant romance even more distant.); The busy Bakers and all their little bakers and buns; An outgoing but mistrusted newcomer to the community, Serge, the Soldier, who's been sent to keep a wary eye on the Gypsies; The Gypsies living on the outskirts of Greenwood make jewelry and clothing to sell in the Market Square, causing a bit more competition than the Greenwood folk bargained for; lots of children including the youngsters just coming of age, Eddie & Bill, and Betty & Isbel; a lovable Cow and Sow, and a variety of birds, including the much disliked Crows, and the beautiful Cuckoo Bird. All of these characters we recognize quite easily for their states in life, emotions, relationships, problems and energy. The now Goatfooted/balloonman befriends the children in the community through his craft of balloon making. And, through goodwill and common sense, he allows the goodness of life and love to move freely around him and thereby dissolves issues of skin color and class status. The life he brings to the natural setting of Greenwood reflects the beauty and richness of his heavenly world and the sheer clean air makes the crazy Greenwood folks lighter and more at ease. He gets the community to play even though he is the brunt of their humor and foolishness. His own dilemma comes when he must sacrifice his hope of returning to his Goddess and his former self. He must choose between the work he has accepted on planet, Earth and his former "heavenly" state. In choosing to remain with the Greenwood folk, he raises his soul into a new man and ensures a lasting richness in the life of planet, Earth.

 

Rites at the Well

 

 

Short Synopsis

The action of the opera takes place in a dream of the Young Man in which his Beloved is engulfed and destroyed by a Witch dancing with her shadow. A Wise Man appears who leads the Young Man to an ancient well. The law of the ritual of the well is to confront the Witch at full moon and drink from its waters. Only then will he be freed from the witch's spell. When the Young Man summons-up the courage to look into the tearless eye of the Witch and drink from the healing waters of the well, the Witch burns. The Young Man's Beloved is then reborn out of the Witch's ashes.

Long Synopsis:

ACT 1: The opening scene takes place in a shadowy jungle area. The light of a first crescent moon is filtering through entangled vines. The Young Man is sitting on a rock next to the grave of his dead beloved lamenting his loss. The Wise Old Man appears and asks 'What dark spirit lingers here?'. The Young Man descibes his recurrent dream in which his beloved is transformed into a Witch. The conversation is followed by a dance of The Witch and her Shadow. The Old Man leaves for his mountain sanctuary to meditate on the meaning of the Young Man's dream.

ACT 2: The scene changes to the entrance of the Old Man's mountain sanctuary overlooking the sea. The light of a second crescent moon highlights the Witch struggling to free herself from the entangled vines. After she pulls herself free, she dances with the Young Man's shadow. The Old Man appears from the sanctuary and advises the Young Man to give up his obsession with his dead beloved and to look within himself for the answer to his dilemna and 'heed the call of the distant stars'. Then the Old Man leads him to the well to perform an ancient ritual that will lift the
dream-curse.

ACT 3: On the mountain top four rocks describe a circular area representing the well. The Witch who is disguised as the Guardian of the well is seated on a rock in the center. She dances towards the Young Man, penetrates a scrim, and engages the Young Man in a seductive dance. At the moment of climax she stares at him with unmoistened eyes. As he stands his ground a waxing moon becomes full. He drinks from the waters of the well and then unmasks the 'Guardian of the well' to reveal the Witch. With the support of the community of dancers, he dismembers the Witch and burns her. Out of her ashes his Beloved is reborn. The Healing Waters scene concludes the opera with the entire cast singing and dancing in celebration of
the magical event.