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Untold

If you know Cinderella, you know Ye Xian. Predating the European fairytale, Ye Xian follows a path familiar to many in search of a place to belong. Untold reveals new twists conjuring to life Ye Xian's story of the transnational journey between and beyond different cultures. Co-created by composer Alex Ho and creative director and choreographer Julia Cheng, Untold weaves together movement and music into an intricate tapestry of colours, sounds, memories, and dreams, imagining a more hopeful future for Ye Xian and those who come after.​

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This old story, a musical intermingling of East and West, becomes more than an eye-pleasing, intriguing and convincing performance. The piece is moreover deeply moving on a human level and allows a European audience to feel what it means to be part of a society that is not completely alien to you, but in which you never completely find your place... The work deservingly won the international Fedora Opera Prize this year.

- Pzazz Theater (full translated review)

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Ingenious musical and theatrical dramaturgy… The most exciting moments of the fairy tale are interrupted by the performers' own stories, their experiences of racism, but also of misunderstanding within their own family....  Alex Ho, pianist and conductor, composed the often atonal or Eastern pentatonic, but also evocative and sonorous music. This was again a happy choice by the programmers of the O. Festival, in collaboration with Muziektheater Transparant and Concertgebouw Brugge. And yes, the audience also knows where to find the performance. Sold out.

- Theater Krant, Critics Choice (full review in Dutch)

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CONCEPT: JULIA CHENG • ALEX HO
COMPOSITION | MUSICAL DIRECTION: ALEX HO
DIRECTION | CHOREOGRAPHY: JULIA CHENG
YE XIAN ADAPTATION: CHUA ORTIGA
DRAMATURGY: ELAYCE ISMAIL
SET DESIGN | LIGHT DESIGN: PETER QUASTERS
COSTUME DESIGN: IRINA SHAPOSHNIKOVA
COSTUME ASSISTANT: SABRINA SEIFRIED
SOUND DESIGN: BART CELIS
CREATIVE CONSULTANT: AÏDA GABRIËLS

PERCUSSION: JOANNE CHIANG
DANCER: JASMINE CHIU
PIANO: ALEX HO
YANGQIN: MANTAWOMAN
COUNTERTENOR: KEITH PUN
FLUTE: DANIEL SHAO

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You may also be interested in Spiralling Scrolls.

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Year: 2019/2023

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Instrumentation: Dancer, counter-tenor, flute, yangqin, percussion, piano

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Duration: 70'

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Premiered at: Concertgebouw Brugge All Arias Festival and O. Festival Rotterdam in Spring 2023

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Produced by: Muziektheater Transparant & Alex Ho

 

Co-produced by: Perpodium and O. Festival for Opera. Music.Theatre.

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Supported by: FEDORA Platform and The Silver Company, Britten Pears Arts, PRS Foundation, RPS Drummond Fund, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest​

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Other: Winner of the FEDORA Opera Prize 2023

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Back to List of Works

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