[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] Afro-Cuban Puppet Opera: “Manita en el suelo,” initially written by globally famend Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier and composed by Alejandro García Caturla, will play on the Goal Margin Theater (positioned at 232 52nd Road, in Brooklyn, New York) on July 29, 2022, at 7:00pm (ET). The Americas Society writes:
Be a part of us for the U.S. premiere of the 1934 puppet opera, with libretto by Alejo Carpentier and music by Alejandro García Caturla, directed by Doug Fitch. On July 29, we are going to host this live performance in-person, and tickets are free. To order your seat, please e mail gportale@as-coa.org. All visitors shall be required to offer proof of vaccination and put on masks.
Manita en el suelo is a “mitología bufa afro-cubana” for narrator, marionettes, refrain, and orchestra in a single act and 5 scenes (1934) with music by Alejandro García Caturla (1906–1940) and textual content by Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980). Manita en el suelo is a playful parody for puppets and one dwelling character, the legendary Papá Montero, who narrates the motion whereas the puppets reenact it. This manufacturing would be the piece’s U.S. premiere in addition to its world premiere with puppets, because the authors supposed.
Synopsis: Three fishermen, Juan Indio, Juan Esclavo, and Juan Odio—who signify Cuba’s three foremost ethnicities in colonial occasions—are caught in a storm. Out of the blue, the Virgin seems and calms the seas, defending the three males crusing on the identical canoe (which represents Cuba itself). Famished after their ordeal, the fishermen eat Manita’s sacred rooster, Motoriongo (the titular character is predicated on a historic determine, a Santería practitioner who lived in Havana within the late nineteenth century). Manita resorts to a baile de santo to summon reveal the id of the fishermen who killed and ate his sacred rooster. Enraged, the ñáñigo (Manita is a member of a secret spiritual society) punches the moon down from the sky, creating darkness on this planet. Destroying the poets’ muse, nonetheless, is against the law for which Manita faces imprisonment and dying by the hands of the Captain Basic of Spain and his guards. Out of the blue, as a standard deus ex machina, Chino de la Charada seems to contrive a merry ending.
The unique idea was developed by Caturla and Carpentier as a fusion of traditions, infusing modernist musical language with Cuban standard music. The composer was fascinated by Afro-Cuban folklore, which influenced his compositional fashion. Caturla was assassinated in 1940, abandoning a piano rating of the entire piece and two totally orchestrated numbers.
Americas Society Music Director Sebastian Zubieta adopted the composer’s indications to create a chamber orchestra model of the rating, Doug Fitch created the puppets and directs, and musicologist and Caturla specialist Malena Kuss lends her experience to the manufacturing.
Supply: https://www.as-coa.org/occasions/afro-cuban-puppet-opera-manita-en-el-suelo