CNET News: "For Ron Meiners, the aha! moment came during Burning Man 2006.
A longtime attendee of the countercultural arts festival, Meiners had been thinking about how one would explain what Burning Man is to someone who had never been. The answer, he decided, was obvious: an opera."
9 comments:
I am very curious to see this opera, assuming it survives and hopefully makes it to reno (which would make sense as reno is the closest major metropolis to burning man). The idea of a transformation of the attendees is, i believe, accurate. If its not quite as physical a change as the play portrays, the desert will change anyone. Everyone returning form burning man takes weeks to get all of the sand off of them, which is a change in itself. My friends that have gone say that its an experience to change your life, and if this opera offers even a little of that experience then it is worth doing.
I love that opera is the format which this exploration took. One assumes that 'those hippies' that go to burning man are not the type that would be interested in opera, but as the writer says, its about art. And what is opera other than art? I love the melding of those two forms to create something that people from both worlds can appreciate. Thats the one thing I'm bummed about in this article. It doesn't mention how the local opera community liked the piece. I'm curious about that.
What makes me extraordinarily happy is that the goals of Burning Man and the goal of a two-three hour opera are the same: showing transformation occur. Oftentimes the Burning Man will involve several on site assemblies to help show this change, and essentially any live story telling will involve a character at point A, and how they changed to get to point B. The classic young heterosexual couple is a great cliche to utilize in such an alienating environment.
I have listened to a sample of the music, and it isn't the kind of opera you would see at the Benedum Center. The author of the article mentions that doing it in the round wasn't particularly effective, but from what I can determine it would benefit from an intimate setting. Then comes the issue of bringing in the scope of the Burning Man festival into a theatre space, and how to honestly portray it. This is a fundamental issue within the premise of the opera that makes it that much more challenging.
Creating Burning Man, the opera, seems like an enormous undertaking. And, from the review, it didn't go as smoothly as one might have hoped. It sounds a little like they relied on cheap tricks, like keeping the woman topless, rather than relying more on the symbolism and power of the transformation. This whole experience seems somewhat in keeping with Timothy Leary's whole Turn on, tune in, drop out ideas. Expanding your mind in a spiritual way, rather than just taking drugs for the sake of taking drugs. Not that this is the whole point of Burning Man, but the drugs are ever present there. I do wish the opera had been more focused on the transformation and expansion of one's mind, rather than drugs and sexual experiences. I agree with the author that it would have been nice if they'd focused more on the art as well.
As seemingly unlikely a medium for telling the Burning Man story as Opera is, it does in a sense fit quiet well. From everything you hear about Burning Man it is a powerful event, and the music of Opera can be incredibly intense. While a musical might have felt campy or satirical Opera does justice to the epic nature of the event. Additionally, this link between opera and counterculture might inspire some people who have never had an interest before to go and see an opera.
I think it's great that such a large festival has managed to garner such attention that it's become noteworthy of being an opera. Burning Man itself is a wonderful festival, and I think the idea to show transformation as a main theme in the play is very indicative of the festival. The fact that it has been changed into an opera instead of a play is also a good decision and I'm interested to hear what the music sounds like to help represent the festival. Hopefully, this opera will be able to further promote Burning Man, and allow people to get a taste of what goes on out in the desert on labor day weekend, and invite them to come along for the ride.
I'm a big believer that almost anything can change a person's life, but I'm not sure if I find the idea of a Burning Man opera to be something I'd want to see. To me, part of what makes Burning Man mysterious is that it's something you have to go and experience yourself. It's allegedly never the same event twice, and each time you are bound to end with a set of stories that most won't believe. So, while the idea of a play or musical feels like it might be an interesting way of telling a trip to Burning Man, I'm not sure an opera is the right medium. Now, I may be grossly wrong, but I've never found opera to be the most event/plot driven of the major performing arts, which I think is a key part of telling a Burning Man experience. I just do not know how you convey the story of going to dessert and crazy shit happening when the emphasis is on lyrical aspects.
My concern with this production is it's focus on sex to the point that the plot is lost at points. Yes, burning man includes drugs, sex, and rock and roll, but I would like to think that audiences are hoping for a little more substance in this opera. Whether this production is an opera or not, I have no doubt it is. But whether this opera is an example of a high art form, is doubtful. I feel as though the piece could've been taken a little farther, perhaps made a commentary on Burning Man itself.
I'm not entirely sure of an opera was the most clear cut choice to express what goes on at Burning Man, especially if you're going to misrepresent it to a large mass of people. I like how the writer didn't gloss over the importance of arts and media in Burning Man's festival, and how that didn't really take precedence in the opera. Rather, the 'journey' of becoming the stereotypical burner is what takes over, and hopefully there is less sex, drugs, rock and roll and more art in there than immediately lets on.
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