WOLF-IN-SKINS

Choreography, direction and libretto by Christopher Williams
Music by Gregory Spears

About Wolf-in-Skins

”Wolf-in-Skins” is the third libretto from an original “dance-opera” cycle choreographed and directed by Christopher Williams and composed by Gregory Spears. Inspired by ancient themes of the “mythic hero’s journey” found in the faerie legends, folklore, and earliest literature of the Insular Celtic cultures, the work’s dream-like narrative, spanning six libretti written by Williams, bears witness to the initiation rites of nine central hero characters grappling with identity via bouts with supernatural agency, otherworldly passage, and transformation. Singers performing in a quasi-archaic English represent the work’s human characters on stage, whereas its “fay” characters (supernatural beings populating a netherworld antipodal to human society) are embodied by dancers. The “fay” voices are produced by shadow figures singing in one of the six remaining Insular Celtic languages (with Welsh as the featured tongue of Wolf-in-Skins). Driven by detailed choreographic, musical, visual, and poetic sequences supported by supertitles, the work interweaves dance, music, puppetry, prosthetic costumes, and mobile sets to define a ritualistic arena in which lost mythology may be re-imagined and embodied via contemporary performance.

This work has been made possible in part by funds from the 92nd Street Y New Works in Dance Fund, the Greenwall Foundation, O'Donnell-Green Music & Dance Foundation, Philadelphia Dance Projects and American Opera Projects. Additionally, this work was created in part during creative residencies at the artist colonies of Yaddo and MacDowell.

About the Creators

CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
(choreographer/librettist/director)
Christopher Williams, noted as "one of the most exciting choreographic voices out there" by John Rockwell of The New York Times, is a dancer, choreographer, and puppeteer who has been devoted to crafting and performing choreographic works in New York City and abroad since 1999. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. He has since danced for Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Tere O’Connor Dance, John Kelly, Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks, and Rebecca Lazier's TERRAIN, among others, and has performed for acclaimed puppetry artists Basil Twist and Dan Hurlin. His original works have been presented in many New York City venues, and internationally in Bogotá, Colombia. In 2005, he received a New York Dance & Performance “Bessie” Award for his work Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and The Bogliasco Foundation, and has held artistic residencies at Movement Research, the Joyce SoHo, Dance New Amsterdam, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, White Oak Plantation, Yaddo, and The Yard. www.christopherwilliamsdance.org

GREGORY SPEARS (composer)
Gregory Spears writes instrumental and vocal music that blends together stylistic aspects of romanticism, minimalism, and early music. His music has been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, the JACK Quartet, Center City Opera, the NOW Ensemble, Present Music Ensemble, So Percussion, and the Eighth Blackbird Ensemble. His opera Paul’s Case, developed by American Opera Projects’ Composers and the Voice Program, was noted for its “solid dramatic timing, compassionate characterizations, and huge potential” (Philadelphia Inquirer - David Patrick Stearns’ Best in Classical Music for 2009). Current projects include a one-act chamber opera commissioned by Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco with a libretto by Farnoosh Moshiri and an evening-length opera based on the novel Fellow Travelers being written in collaboration director Kevin Newbury and writer Greg Pierce. New Amsterdam Records will release a recording of his Requiem in November 2011. www.gregoryspears.com

1. Excerpt from "The Love Song of Gilfaethwy the False" from Wolf-in-Skins
November 10, 2011
OPERA AMERICA NEW WORKS FORUM 2011 - Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College
Singers: Drew Santini, Nina Berman, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, & Ryland Angel
Violin I: Daniel Lee; Violin II: Dongmyung Ahn; Viola: Kyle Miller; Cello: Ezra Seltzer
Harp: Kristi Shade; Recorder: Rachel Begley

2. Excerpt from "The Dance of the Fay Milkmaids Calling the Kine" from Wolf-in-Skins
November 10, 2011
OPERA AMERICA NEW WORKS FORUM 2011 - Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College
Singers: Nina Berman, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, & Ryland Angel
Violin I: Daniel Lee; Violin II: Dongmyung Ahn; Viola: Kyle Miller; Cello: Ezra Seltzer
Harp: Kristi Shade; Recorder: Rachel Begley

3. Excerpt from "The Curse of Gwyn ap Nudd" from Wolf-in-Skins
November 10, 2011
OPERA AMERICA NEW WORKS FORUM 2011 - Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College
Singers: Evan Hughes, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek
Violin I: Daniel Lee; Violin II: Dongmyung Ahn; Viola: Kyle Miller; Cello: Ezra Seltzer
Harp: Kristi Shade; Recorder: Rachel Begley; Percussion: Gregory Spears

LISTEN

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WATCH

Photo Gallery for "Wolf-in-Skins" (drawings and photos by Andrew Jordan of costume designs by Andrew Jordan, Carol Binion, and Christopher Williams)

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