In addition, starting at 7 P.M., the troupe will present excerpts from "The Emperor and the Barmaid", in the Emerson Auditorium, with Xiaowen Xu playing the barmaid, and Bin Ma in the role of the Ming Emperor Zheng De, who is disguised as an elderly military officer. Below is a synopsis of the current version of The Emperor and the Barmaid. You can find a small library of videos at the NYCOS website, which demonstrate the many ways in which the Society serves its Mission and reaches out to bring Chinese arts and culture in relevant and accessible ways to the broader community.
The New York Chinese Opera Society has graciously accepted an invitation to appear at Union College on Friday, October 16, as part of HNA 2015. They will offer a workshop from 4:00-5:30 pm in the Henle Dance Pavilion, presented by Leping Xu, who shares his love of Chinese arts, especially calligraphy and Chinese painting, through his NYCOS activities.
In addition, starting at 7 P.M., the troupe will present excerpts from "The Emperor and the Barmaid", in the Emerson Auditorium, with Xiaowen Xu playing the barmaid, and Bin Ma in the role of the Ming Emperor Zheng De, who is disguised as an elderly military officer. Below is a synopsis of the current version of The Emperor and the Barmaid. You can find a small library of videos at the NYCOS website, which demonstrate the many ways in which the Society serves its Mission and reaches out to bring Chinese arts and culture in relevant and accessible ways to the broader community.
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A Message from Local Committee Co-Chairs Hilary Tann & John Stevenson:
We are beginning to keenly anticipate the arrival of everyone! Because it is necessary to purchase and/or reserve a number of goods and services in advance and, in order to do so, to have a reasonable estimate of how many people we need to provide for, we are asking everyone who is definitely planning to attend HNA 2015 to complete and return their registration form as soon as possible. (To pay online, go to our Registration Page, but please also print out and mail in the registration form). Based upon a combination of reservations at The Desmond, submissions for the conference anthology, names of presenters, and other sources, we estimate that we have registrations from slightly less than half of those who will be attending. The registration form gives us details about your preferences that will be of immense assistance in our planing. Thanks to all who have already registered and to those who will do so in the near future! Thank you! John (and Hilary) p.s. Another reason to register now: Rates go up 20% on September 5.
1) One of our main themes, and the focus of our keynote speech and panel, is "Haiku in Education". Where better to engage with this topic that at a liberal arts college, surrounded by students? It may remind the conferees of their own early-learning times. A college is a place of seekers and creators. 2) Because we are holding the conference during term, HNA 2015 participants will have the opportunity to see/hear their peers (Red Pine, Ion Codrescu, Michael Dylan Welch, and others) in classroom situations. There may be space limitations, but we plan to have a fair cross-fertilization between the campus activities and conference events. 3) On the practical side, because we are holding HNA2015 during term, generous college funds have been made available to us, especially for subventing the costs of bringing Red Pine (Bill Porter), Ion Codrescu, and Beijing Opera. 4) Ion's haiga exhibition in the Nott Memorial opens August 29th and will be on show all term. This is an extraordinary showcase for haiku and haiga and a time for introducing the "haiku spirit" to a new generation of students. 5) The international and cross-disciplinary scope of haiku will be felt as the contributing departments get caught up in the excitement of the conference. English, Modern Languages, History, Philosophy, Dance, Visual Arts, Music, and Asian Studies have all given their support. 6) Union College has a lovely, "New England" campus. Our venues are historical and in close proximity. We have beautiful grounds and gardens, enhanced by vibrant fall colors. No traffic noise, no hoardings, no distractions -- a quiet place which hints of the contemplative life. Ideal for haiku. HT On Thursday evening, October 15, Bill Porter will bring a slide/lecture presentation titled: The Search for Solitude: China's Hermit Tradition, to Union College's Old Chapel, as part of the Haiku North America 2015 conference. He has published several books describing his travels in China in search of that Taoist/Buddhist hermit tradition. But, Bill Porter is perhaps better known as Red Pine, the name he uses when he translates ancient Chinese poetry and ancient Buddhist texts. (For a partial list of his publications, see Copper Canyon Press, and Amazon.com's Red Pine Page.) Under either name, the more I have learned of about his fascinating life and works, the more I am looking forward to meeting and hearing him at HNA 2015. Turned off by the life of wealth he was born into, this son of a former bank-robber who later owned a chain of California hotels and became a major force in the election of John F. Kennedy, lived in Taiwan for three years in the early 1970s as a Buddhist monk. He now lives in Port Townsend, Washington. To help himself learn the Chinese language, Bill began translating the poetry of the famous Chinese poet Cold Mountain. Tricycle tells us, in an interview about the Chinese Hermit Tradition, that Bill has made "many long journeys in mainland China that he chronicled for radio audiences in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He produced over 1,100 short programs about different Chinese locales, embellishing his narratives with details from Chinese history and culture." He will surely share many interesting and entertaining details with us on October 15. It is his approach to translating ancient poetry that may be especially pertinent to a Conference that is focused on how we teach and learn haiku, a genre that suffered greatly due to misguided translations of its classic poets. In the article "Red Pine's Chinese translations rise from Port Townsend to the top of Cold Mountain" (The Oregonian-OregonLive.com, Dec. 16, 2013) arts reporter Jeff Baker tells us that Jim Harrison, poet and author of Legends of the Fall, says he reads Red Pine's translations "religiously." W.S. Merwin, the octogenarian National Book Award-winning poet was even more effusive. Merlin told Baker he loves Red Pine's translations because "they're not like any others. Love of language, love of tradition, accuracy and power of language. I am so indebted to him. I'll be reading his Stonehouse translations for the rest of my days." Or, as Conference co-chair Hilary Tann told me, "Red Pine should inspire us to reconstruct the ancient haiku traditions in a contemporary and utterly natural way." You can learn more about Red Pine and Bill Porter in the Oregonian article mentioned above. For more background, I also suggest:
Don't forget your Summer Homework assignment: Think of a haiku-haijin treasure you can create or take down from an honored location on a special shelf to bring for the HNA 2015 Silent Auction.
The Silent Auction is a way to make a personal contribution to Haiku North America. "Professor" John Stevenson recommends that we all consider "bringing an item (or items) to be donated to the Silent Auction. For example, anything that might be valued or enjoyed by others in the haiku community: rare or unique haiku books, items reflecting your home region, original art. Use your imagination and be creative!"
The many presenters who will contribute greatly to making Haiku North America 2015 a success are listed below. This is our Presenter List, with Presentation Titles, as of today, August 2, 2015. Many thanks to each of them for helping us construct an excellent mix of topics and styles that will make a journey to Union College and Schenectady worthwhile and enjoyable. (Have you registered yet?) We will, of course, attempt to make any additions, scratches, substitutions, or other changes known as we know of them. There will, if course, be much more to see and do at the Conference: Click for descriptions of the HNA 2015 Special Events & Panels. Looking over the latest list of presenters at Haiku North America 2015, and preparing to get the list up for the many curious prospective attendees, I was reminded of my favorite 60th birthday gift, back in 2009, and what a fine present a Ion Codrescu haiga can be. If you come to the Conference, I'm sure you'll get some great holiday gift ideas strolling Mandeville Gallery, as well as browsing the HNA 2015 Book Fair, in the Nott Memorial. Beware: you might have to battle the temptation for multiple self-gifting. Here's my proof for the above assertions: Image: Ion Codrescu; poem by Roberta Beary, orig. pub. Upstate Dim Sum (2009/II) You can learn about the multi-talented (and very busy) HNA 2015 Keynote Speaker, Dr. Randy Brooks, on the Conference Keynote Speaker webpage, which has a summary of his Keynote Address, “Teaching Haiku in American Higher Education”, along with a biography that includes links for further exploration of Randy's oeuvre as poet, teacher, publisher, editor, and archivist. |
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