Alison Kuo Stages Cantonese Opera At New Museum

(MENAFN- USA Art News) New York-based artist Alison Kuo is presenting a unique interpretation of Cantonese opera at the New Museum in New York this weekend, October 22-24. The performance, titled“A flame latches to a bit of straw 薪火相傳,” draws inspiration from Kuo's grandmother, a former Cantonese opera singer in Hong Kong, and a 400-year-old tradition.

Kuo's grandmother, who passed away, had performed as a military general in Cantonese opera, a role often reserved for men despite the common practice of gender-bending in traditional opera. Kuo inherited a costume beard her grandmother wore and has since dedicated years to studying the art form, from its singing and staging to costumes and set design. The performance's title is a Chinese idiom meaning“passing the torch.”

Kuo assumes the role of a general, channeling her grandmother. The cast includes her cousin Anna Kuo, neighbor and former go-go dancer Mark Bolling, teenage performer Mei Brunette, and Queens-based dancer and textile artist Annika Cheng. Local musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments will also participate, alongside three Cantonese opera singers from Manhattan's Chinatown: MeeMee Chin (Kuo's mentor), Wai Wah Law, and Ying Ying Zhu.

The narrative begins with the Kuo cousins discovering their grandmother's photographs and admiring her beard before being transported into the world of Cantonese opera. The production blends traditional and contemporary cultures through its diverse cast, music, staging, and visual elements. Kuo designed the sets and some costumes herself, borrowed others from local performers, and even incorporated a few of her grandmother's old dresses. Cheng assisted with costume design, and the entire cast was encouraged to improvise and offer feedback during rehearsals.

Kuo's work as an artist and community organizer often focuses on the Asian American experience and collaboration. She has researched memoirs by Asian American women and books about the late Qing dynasty, which marked a period of emigration and displacement that led to today's diaspora communities. Kuo, who lives in Brooklyn, frequently engages with Manhattan's Chinatown community. She attended early events at the W.O.W. Project, an arts and anti-gentrification organization founded in 2016 in Chinatown's oldest continuously operating store. Through the W.O.W. Project, Kuo made connections and attended Cantonese opera workshops, with some of her former teachers now joining her on stage.

In 2021, while managing artist residencies at the International Studio & Curatorial Program, Kuo co-founded Sisters in Self-Defense, a Chinatown-based self-defense and support group for Asian Americans, with writer Ava Chin, whose daughter Mei Brunette is part of Kuo's performance. Kuo was excited to become an artist-in-residence at the New Museum, located just blocks from Chinatown. Since June, she has worked in a 730-sq.-ft studio on the museum's sixth floor, furnishing it with research materials, family heirlooms, and a couch for visitors, including her young art students from a Chinatown school. She previously shared a studio in Brooklyn with her husband, also an artist, but realized her need to be in Chinatown.

Reflecting on her character's transformation in“A flame latches to a bit of straw 薪火相傳,” Kuo stated,“I'm more confident, celebrating taking part in an art form that has endured for hundreds of years.” The performance signifies the passing of a centuries-old tradition from Kuo's grandmother and Chinatown's Cantonese opera singers to Kuo, her cousin, friends, and Mei Brunette.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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