What Would Mozart Say?
When I saw the performance of “Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute” at The Joyce Theater, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What would Mozart say about the Cambodian adaptation of his epochal opera ‘Die Zauberfloete/ The Magic Flute’?” Though this wasn’t out of disinclination towards the performance, it was a question that was adequate to ask oneself. For anyone who had an opportunity to see Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, differences and similarities were easy to depict and a slight preconception about what was going to be expected could inhibit one from truthfully enjoying the performance. A major difference was the fact that the Cambodian Magic Flute was solely performed through movements. Besides the rather “quote-like” surtitles above the ten musicians upstage, there were no spoken words at all. Dressed in absolutely stunning, traditional Cambodian costumes, the dancers performed traditional Cambodian movements, which are mainly focused in the hands and feet. Dances almost seemed like a sequence of striking poses that progressed very slowly from one to another. Though I found that “Pamina Devi” at The Joyce Theater was a captivating experience, I personally found it extremely difficult to stay focused during the 120 minute performance. The story that was told through the movements was very similar to Mozart’s original– the five main characters (Pamina, Tamino, Papageno, Papagena and the Queens of the Night) were all translated into Cambodian names- but it took deep focus and endurance to follow the story throughout. To fully immerse in this adaptation and not simply get carried away by the beauty of costumes and Cambodian tradition, one must have had a deep appreciation for movement and dance and the rather trained mind and etiquette of a frequent dance spectator.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
When you said “I personally found it extremely difficult to stay focused during the 120 minute performance.” it instantly reminded me of one of the ethnic dance performance we saw earlier this semester which was very interesting because of the colorful costumes and different music but a little hard to understand.