African Dance Opera

Luyala, the new dance opera that premieres tonight at Page Auditorium, combines the traditions of classical opera with modern and African-American dance. What began five years ago as the vision of librettist Penelope Bridgers will finally arrive on stage as a visually and musically impressive interpretation of an African folktale.

Luyala is a story of love found in exile and of the trials that both Luyala-a spoiled princess banished from her mythic African land-and Muoma, the wounded beggar who finds her, must endure before they can ultimately be united.

In its current incarnation, Luyala is a dance opera produced as a partnership between Chuck Davis' African American Dance Ensemble, Triangle Opera and the Duke University Artists Series. "Dance opera is not completely new, but something you don't see every day," said Bill Banfield, who composed Luyala.

The presence of these two local artistic giants at Duke adds to the texture of this production by allowing for double casting: Each character is portrayed by both a dancer and a singer. While this can at first be confusing-the performers are of different ages and wear different costumes, so reading the synopsis in the program beforehand is recommended-the effect's contribution to the overall emotional impact of the performance is soon evident as both the dancers and singers perform in their individual but synchronized spaces.

Banfield says he saw Luyala as a project whose artistic vision "married the notion of African sensibilities and the notion of the artist and the community." The African sensibility is also visible in the play in the theme of the community of ancestors.

Banfield described the music of Luyala as influenced by a number of factors including traditional African music, jazz and twentieth-century modernist music. "I drew inspiration from many sources: European Romantics like Verdi and Wagner; the modern tonalities of Stravinsky and Anthony Davis; traditional African and contemporary music." He said that balancing the authenticity of the African music with what he wanted to do as a composer was a struggle, but that the music integrated all of these influences, which "float from one to the other." He also compared the opera to the work of Richard Wagner in that it contained a moral sensibility and served as an institution where people could be transformed.

The cast of Luyala includes Durham native and Grammy-nominated jazz notable Nnenna Freelon, who plays the role of the Ghost Queen, Luyala's mother. Chuck Davis stars as the dancing part of Luyala's father. Dancer Monique Newton and soprano Louise Toppin share the title role of Luyala. Stafford Berry Jr., the Assistant Artistic Director of the African-American Dance Ensemble, dances the role of Muoma. Tazewell Thompson, a regular at the Chapel Hill PlayMakers Repertory Company whose most recent project is Porgy and Bess at City Opera in New York, directs.

Luyala premiers tonight in Page Auditorium. For more information, see calendar, p. 11.