juliana snapper

The first full-scale opera performed in and under water, continuation/culmination part of the 5 Fathoms Opera Project.

The work was conceived, developed, performed and directed by soprano Juliana Snapper and composer Andrew Infanti. Each performance involved the collaboration of local artists, professional and amateur, from the host city.

Juliana Snapper takes on the role of an amphibious hybrid animal named Blorkra that survived an ecological catastrophe (see synopsis).

The title of this work echoes a few lines composed by Bertolt Brecht shortly before the Second World War disaster (“Ihr, die ihr auftauchen werdet aus der Flut...”).

Blorkra Audio excerpts

◼ “Dear Blorkra”

◼ Blorkra on the Radio

A remix for BBC Radio 3's Late Junction program produced by Katie Callin (@kjcallin).

A surprising result: the originally apocalyptic work takes on a "Holiday" vibe!

Blorkra Video excerpts

Watch excerpts from You Who Will emerge from the Flood…

These excerpts show footage from performances at:

• AKSIOMA, Institute for Contemporary Art : Ljubljana (performed in a swimming pool; part of the previous 5 Fathoms Opera Project), Slovenia, 2008.
  Read a review of AKSIOMA event: “Art under water” by Jela Krečič.
• Queer up North Festival : Manchester (world premiere, performed in historic Victoria Baths), England, 2009.
  Listen to Front Row to the Flood: an interview with Juliana Snapper by Kirsty Lang (BBC 4's Front Row program.)
• TRAMA Festival de Artes Performativas : Porto (performed in a swimming pool: Clube Fluvial Portuense), Portugal, 2009.
  Read a dayly newspaper review of TRAMA event: “Um peixe chamado Juliana Snapper” by Ana Maria Henriques.
• Teatr Dramatyczny Migracje Festiwal : Warsaw (performed in a swimming pool: the Palace of Culture and Science), Poland, 2010.
  Read Broadening the Field of Theatre, a review of 2010 Festiwal Theatralny Warsaw Centralna event by Ewelina Godlewska-Byliniak.

Pre-recorded sounds from oceanic bubble fields and birdcalls throb above the water as Juliana Snapper’s voice (amplified by an underwater microphone) presses through the soundscape.

Juliana Snapper becomes a modern-day siren in two ways:

— she takes on the role of Blorkra, an amphibious hybrid that survived a global ecological catastrophe.

— she utilises radical vocal techniques (see “Bouche à l'eau”) which require more than her voice being transmitted via a hydrophone.

You Who Will Emerge from the Flood : synopsis

Blorkra is a genetically-engineered amphibious posthuman living 500,000 years in the future. Her species was designed in the twenty-first century as an act of despair — in the knowledge that the earth could no longer support homo sapiens.

Attempts had to be made to diversify human anatomy in order to survive on a ruined earth. Following the extinction of humankind, Blorkra’s species has evolved and developed.

But, she may be the last of her kind. She lives in hunger and isolation between the icy depths and the sterile shore.

A dark shadow hangs over Blorkra. A boat (does she even know what this is?) has been circulating in her territory.

Blorkra is alarmed by the boat, but she is desperate to find food and for contact (with anyone). Excited and confused, she plunges into a sequence of hallucinatory trances. In these visions, she sees/hears:

— a genetic scientist named “T.I.N.A.” (“there is no alternative”) from the twenty-first century, creator of Blorkra’s species;

— a swamp dweller named “Snatch”, living in 75,000 A.D.

Can these ancestors teach her anything useful? They express only a series of vague warnings and muddled apologies in languages Blorkra doesn’t understand. Hopeful, she moves towards the shore in her gelatinous bubble; towards the shadowy figures with the boat. In her final hallucination, Blorkra sees her own violent death.