In this hands-on workshop designed for performers, Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野, Debi Wong and Stephanie Wong will lead participants through a series of exercises aimed at empowering creativity and agency in individual artistic practices. This workshop will develop out of the interdisciplinary creation methods explored in Wong & Kasahara's new co-creation, RIVER ISLAND 川島 and will end with an opportunity to share work.

ABOUT RIVER ISLAND 川島

RIVER ISLAND (literal translation of “Kawashima”) is a new devised operatic piece that draws inspiration from the enigmatic life of Kawashima Yoshiko, a royal and military leader whose race, sexuality, and gender identity were factors in their execution at the end of the Second World War. Through the intersectional lens of Yoshiko’s lived experience and biography, this operatic piece will examine themes of gender, sexuality, queerness, culture (Chinese and Japanese), racialization, and the erasure of those identities because of Western imperialism, specifically the intervention and subjugation of China by Western powers, Russia, and Japan, ie. the “century of humiliation”

Co-creators: Debi Wong & Teiya Kasahara

Dramaturgy & Devised Director: Stephanie Wong

**This event is limited to UBC & Vancouver Opera students, staff & faculty and Indie Opera Artists**

**All guests must pre-register.**