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''To Traverse Water'' is an opera by Tasmanian (Australian) composer Constantine Koukias (1965 - ) that depicts a young Greek woman's departure for Australia and her settlement there. Her tale is loosely based on that of Koukias’ mother, and the opera makes direct reference to her at the end of the show when a slide picture of her appears, along with a tape of her voice intoning an old village song. Writing of the 1995 Melbourne Festival production, ''The Ages Jim Davidson noted that "with the modern decline in church-going, one of opera's key functions is to offer ritual re-enactment at an emotionally intense level".〔Davidson, Jim 1995, "Ritual and Opera Blend in Dockside Warehouse", ''The Age'', 1 November 1995〕 ''To Traverse Water'' blends instrumental music, operatic singing, folk song, drama, dance, light sculpture, art installations and film to create a hybrid performance piece.〔Deeth, Jane 1993, "Transformation of the Real", ''Artlink'', vo. 13, no. 1, May 1993〕 Sung in Ecclesiastical and Modern Greek, the text is drawn from fragments of the Old Testament, the New Testament, the I Ching, Greek folk songs, the Divine Liturgy, and the writings of Kostas Gionis, Vasiliki Koukias (Constantine's mother) and Koukias himself. The work is in two parts and features eight singers, five speaking voices and seven musicians. As with other large-scale Koukias operas such as ''Days and Nights with Christ'' and ''Tesla - Lightning in His Hand'', ''To Traverse Water'' is performed in the vast spaces so crucial to early Koukias operas produced by the IHOS Experimental Music Theatre Troupe (now IHOS Music Theatre and Opera)〔Shevtsova, Maria 1996, "Greek-Australian Odysseys in a Multicultural World", ''Performing Arts Journal'' 52, vol. 18 no. 1, pp. 64-70〕 and features "truly epic staging".〔Waites, James 1995, "Immigrant Tale on Epic Scale", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 17 March 1995〕 Describing its 1995 production for the Greek Festival of Sydney, James Waites applauds Ann Wulff's visual production design: "From the roof hang a half-dozen fishing boats, mechanised oars sweeping the air, a potent image holding this story of human transport together." 〔 The opera's narrative is presented in a simple, montage structure: Part One is set in Greece, Part Two in Australia. Through the culturally specific story of Despina, Koukias provides an authentic view of the immigrant experience that avoids cliche. The work, nevertheless, offers an insight into the broader tensions of multiculturalism in Australia.〔Stoddart, Michael 1992, ''Opera, Opera'', December 1992〕 ''To Traverse Water'' was first produced for Hobart's Abel Tasman Festival in 1992. Sound recordings are held in the National Library of Australia,〔Excerpts from the opera "To traverse water" (recording ), compact disc, Main Reading Room, Mixed Media Collection. Includes eight-page theatre program plus three sheets〕 and a seven-minute documentary film of the 1992 production produced by Joy Toma and directed by David Male for SBS Television is available through Screen Australia.〔(Screen Australia Searchable Film Database, ''To Traverse Water'' )〕 Since its last production in 1995, ''To Traverse Water'' has also featured in a number of publications, including Gordon Kerry's ''New Classical Music: Composing Australia''〔Kerry, Gordon 2009, ''New Classical Music: Composing Australia'', UNSW Press〕 and RealTime's ''In Repertoire: A Selected Guide To Australian Music Theatre''.〔RealTime 2000, In Repertoire: A Selected Guide to Australian Music Theatre, Australia Council〕 ==Production credits== Original production design Ann E. Wulff, American visual artist, in association with Australian visual artists Evangelos Sakaris, Stuart Vaskess, Brian Parkes and Ben Blakenbrough. Choreographer Christos Linou. Original Costume Design and Fabrication Caz Pellow-Jones 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「To Traverse Water」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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