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Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 288-6400
Fax: (212) 517-8315
www.asiasoc.org
Journey to Benares
Libretto, lyrics, and backdrops by Melinda Camber Porter
Music,
direction, and choreography by
Elizabeth Swados
The Asia Society and Museum
New York City, November 14 and 15, 2003
Performances at 8:00
p.m.
 This
provocative new work highlights the adventurous collaboration between
British artist/author/filmmaker Melinda Camber Porter and composer
/choreographer /director Elizabeth Swados.
Journey to Benares
explores the agonies and ecstasies of love and the illusion of
redemption in a faraway land, and pays homage to the relevance of
Tantric philosophy.
The
spiritual animus of the city of Benares is evoked in Ms. Swados’s music
and choreography inspired by Ms. Camber Porter’s lyrics and libretto and
her vibrant large oils on canvas, The Triptych Series.
This
painting, Tryst, is from The Triptych Series.
Actors
will sing excerpts from the score of Act I in a piano reading format,
followed by a question and answer session with Melinda Camber Porter and
Elizabeth Swados.
Journey
to Benares
will begin touring internationally in 2004.
About the Artists
British artist/author/filmmaker Melinda Camber
Porter began her writing career in Paris as a cultural correspondent
for The Times of London. Her books include the novel Badlands
(a Book-of-the-Month Club selection), Through Parisian Eyes
(Oxford University Press), and The Art of Love (a collection of
her poetry and paintings) A solo traveling exhibition of Camber Porter’s
oils on canvas and works on paper, curated by the late Leo Castelli,
opened at the French Embassy in New York City in 1993 and traveled to
museums across the United States through 1997. Camber Porter is
currently directing a feature-length film on the British director
Michael Apted. And in development is her next film with Wim Wenders.
These are the first films in her series entitled Visions on Film,
in which she explores the creative process of major film directors.
Director/composer/choreographer Elizabeth Swados
has been writing music, theater and books professionally for almost
thirty years. She has been nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, Ace, and Emmy
Awards, and she has won several Obies, Outer Critics Circle Awards, a
PEN Citation, and an Anne Frank National Foundation for Jewish Culture
award. Her Broadway credits include Runaways and Doonsbury.
Her off-Broadway credits include (among others) Alice in Wonderland
(with Meryl Streep), Dispatches, The Haggedah, Jerusalem, Rap Music
Ronnie (with Gary Trudeau), and Missionaries. Her works have
been seen at the Mark Taper Forum, The Public Theater, Manhattan Theater
Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music, La Mama ETC, and Lincoln Center
Institute.
About the Paintings
The oils on canvas from The Triptych Series
by Melinda Camber Porter were one of the main inspirations for Ms.
Swados’s music and choreography. Five paintings from the series, each
consisting of three rectangular panels, will be presented on stage.
Tryst (60" x 60")
Shiva and
Parvati in the Forest
(48" x 48")
Breath to
Breath, Skin to Skin: Gift of Courage
(72" x 60")
Face Immersed
(24" x 36")
Released
from Waiting
(48" x 48")
About the Asia
Society
Asia Society and Museum is the foremost cultural
institution in the United States dedicated to fostering understanding
between Asians and Americans.
About the Sponsors
Major
support for performances at the Asia Society and Museum is provided by
the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Many thanks also to Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Kaplan, Blake Technologies, Inc., and New Moon Productions Ltd.
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