Farewell: a fantastical contemplation on America’s relationship with China
Dance Music
for voices, er-hu, cello, percussion, bicycle wheels, cassette tape players, soundtrack
Description
Farewell: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China is a dance-music-theater work created by Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theatre. Composer Byron Au Yong collaborated on this project part of the initiative Beyond Dance: Promoting Awareness and Mutual Understanding.
Audio Excerpts
Creative Team
Donald Byrd, choreographer
Byron Au Yong, composer
Jack Mehler, set/lighting designer
Byron Au Yong, er-hu, voice, drums, soundtrack
Paul Kikuchi, drums, bicycle wheels, cassette
Tiffany Lin, cello, drums, bicycle wheels
Mike Au Yong, Ying Zhou, additional recorded voices
Kelly Ann Barton, Ty Alexander Cheng, Geneva Jenkins, Kylie Lewallen, Vincent Lopez, Amber Nicole Mayberry, Joel Myers, Tory Peil, Patrick Pulkrabek, Marissa Quimby, Mia Monteabaro, Meaghan Sanford, Sarah Poppe, dancers
Details
Duration: 80 minutes
Presented by Spectrum Dance Theatre in partnership with Seattle Theater Group
Premiered at The Moore Theatre in Seattle, February 2010
Press Quotes
for voices, er-hu, cello, percussion, bicycle wheels, cassette tape players, soundtrack
“... hyper-frenetic sound score by Byron Au Yong.” —CityArts Magazine
Description
Farewell: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China is a dance-music-theater work created by Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theatre. Composer Byron Au Yong collaborated on this project part of the initiative Beyond Dance: Promoting Awareness and Mutual Understanding.
Audio Excerpts
available at Bandcamp
Creative Team
Donald Byrd, choreographer
Byron Au Yong, composer
Jack Mehler, set/lighting designer
Byron Au Yong, er-hu, voice, drums, soundtrack
Paul Kikuchi, drums, bicycle wheels, cassette
Tiffany Lin, cello, drums, bicycle wheels
Mike Au Yong, Ying Zhou, additional recorded voices
Kelly Ann Barton, Ty Alexander Cheng, Geneva Jenkins, Kylie Lewallen, Vincent Lopez, Amber Nicole Mayberry, Joel Myers, Tory Peil, Patrick Pulkrabek, Marissa Quimby, Mia Monteabaro, Meaghan Sanford, Sarah Poppe, dancers
Details
Duration: 80 minutes
Presented by Spectrum Dance Theatre in partnership with Seattle Theater Group
Premiered at The Moore Theatre in Seattle, February 2010
Press Quotes
“Byron Au Yong, delivers not just a score but a bedlam-filled sound collage.”
—Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times
“... his memories of his father’s recollections of playing form a powerful connection to a lost past, and composer Byron Au Yong incorporates them into the score to powerful effect.”
—Jeremy Barker, The Sunbreak
“The sound is a thick, almost impenetrable thicket, an onslaught you must cut your way through in order to pay the dancers any attention.”
—Marcie Sillman, ArtDish
“The music alone is well worth it. Melodies are layered with live percussion, speech and bicycle wheels, punctuated by the sounds of the dancers.”
—Kaya P, Teen Tix Blog
“The instruments Au Yong incorporates include Chinese percussion — drums, symbols and gong; Chinese fiddle; cello; and a bicycle wheel whose spokes are plucked and strummed.”
—Leslie Holleran, Seattle Dances
Read preview articles about Farewell