The Sun Dance Opera is a 1913 opera with a score by William F. Hanson and libretto and songs by Zitkala-Sa, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin.[1]

Development

Zitkala-Sa met Hanson in 1910, and the two began working on the opera that year.[1] According to N. L. Nelson, a colleague of Hanson at Brigham Young University, Zitkala-Sa was heavily involved with writing the show's story, revising the show's music, designing the show's costumes, and traineding "the dancers and singers so as to be true to the highest and best ideals of her people".[2]

Bonnin drew on traditional Sioux melodies for the show's music, and chants were also included in the show's score.[3] Some portions of the score, especially in the ensemble pieces, were also left open for performers to improvise or to sing their own chants or songs.[3]

Hanson claimed his work on the opera was motivated by the desire to record Sioux culture.[3][2]

Premise

The opera's is set in Pipestone Quarry near Yankton, South Dakota.[3] The plot involves a love triangle between Sioux protagonist Ohiya, Sioux woman Winona, daughter of the chief, and the show's villain, Sweet Singer, a Shoshone man.[2][3] The titular Sun Dance, a Plains Indians ceremony that had been outlawed since 1904, also plays a prominent role in the story.[1][3]

The show's prologue features Sweet Singer leaving his home to travel to the "land [of] the Sioux," after he violated Shoshone religious rules.[3] The story then properly opens with Ohiya and Winona, with Ohiya promising to earn her affections.[3]

Productions

The Sun Dance Opera debuted in February 1913, at Orpheus Hall in Vernal, Utah, playing for three nights.[2] The cast featured members of the Ute Nation from the Uintah and Ouray Reservation,[1] but the leads were played by non-Native singers.[3] The opera saw some success, with the production touring the state over the next two years.[4]

Bonnin was credited for her work on the opera, with a 1913 El Paso Herald article noting that she had written the piece.[5]

The opera was performed several times at Brigham Young University, including twice in 1914 and once in 1935.[2]

The opera premiered on Broadway on April 27 1938, at the Broadway Theater, where it was put on by the New York City Light Opera for two nights.[2][6] The New York Opera Guild presented the piece as the opera of the year.[3] Bonnin was not involved in the production, nor in the revisions made to the libretto and composition.[4] Hanson's revisions doubled the show's length, added a number of songs and rewrote those remaining from the original.[2]

In a reversal of the 1913 casting, much of the ensemble were played by non-Natives, while many of the lead roles were played by Native Americans living in New York City.[3]

At the time of the 1938 production, Zitkala-Sa was not credited for her work on the piece,[1] nor was she credited when Hanson registered the opera with the U.S. Copyright Office.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Demmon, Tiffany (May 30, 2023). "A Story Worth Sharing: Zitkála-Šá & Her Sun Dance Opera". museum.bucknell.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Smith, Catherine Parsons. "An operatic skeleton on the western frontier: Zitkala-Sa, William F. Hanson, and The Sun Dance Opera". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hafen, P. Jane (Spring 1998). "A Cultural Duet: Zitkala Ša And The Sun Dance Opera". Great Plains Quarterly.
  4. 1 2 3 Lamberson, Nicole (2021-03-31). "Zitkála-Šá: On Creativity, Copyright, and Cultural Empowerment | Copyright". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
  5. ↑ "Indian Girl Writes Opera". El Paso Herald. 1913-12-27. p. 31. ISSN 2159-5623. Retrieved 2023-12-18 – via Chronicling America.
  6. ↑ "HANSON LIGHT OPERA HAS PREMIERE HERE; ' The Sun Dance' Presented by Cast of Young Singers". The New York Times. 1938-04-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
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