June 28 & November 7, 1996: Presentations in Spain
The Opera was presented at 5cyberconf, the Fifth International Conference on Cyberspace in Madrid, June 28, 1996 and at the First International Conference on Virtual Reality in Valencia, November 7, 1996.
Report of the presentation of honoria in ciberspazio at the First International Conference on Virtual Reality November 7, 1996
by Richard MacKinnon
_honoria in ciberspazio_ was selected as the special closing event for the "I Congreso Internaccional de Realidad Virtual" at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain. The event showcased George Oldziey’s original composition for Act I, Scene 2, "Come to me: The Birth of a Clone" which sets to music the thrill, angst, and frustration arising from falling in love with a virtual lover.
The international audience was treated to a 15-minute introduction to the cyberopera by renowned Spanish Shakespearean scholar Dr. Vicente Fores. Dr. Fores joined the cyberopera in the Spring of 1996, bringing with him his world-class talent in the translation of verse. Following this introduction, a taped interview with Allucquere Rosanne Stone and honoria was displayed on a large screen. Stone is the director of Advanced Communication Technologies Laboratory (ACTLAB) at the University of Texas at Austin. A mentor to honoria and a personality upon whom one of the cyberopera’s characters is based, Stone discusses the important role _honoria_ plays in uniting high theory and high art in the pursuit of love on the Internet.
Following the interview, a live dancer on stage in Valencia was integrated with a simulated Internet broadcast of another dancer in Austin. Dancing to the dramatic and longing chords of Oldziey’s music and a live vocalist singing Fores’ translated Spanish libretto, the effect was an entrancing, dancing duet wherein one dancer was "real" and the other was "virtual."
Just one in a series of events showcasing the talents and potential of _honoria_, the presentation in Valencia provided the fledgling opera company with the opportunity to introduce cyberopera as a new and important art form in the age of "distance-art" – dispersed audiences, hybrid performance areas, and artist telecollaboration.