When Opera Meets Ballet: Lowell House Opera’s ‘The Unknowable’

The Lowell House Opera premiered Benjamin T. Rossen ’23’s “The Unknowable, An Operatic Ballet in Two Acts” on Feb. 9 and 10 in Sanders Theatre. Founded in 1938, the Lowell House Opera casts emerging young professionals within Harvard and the Greater Boston Area in high-quality performances. “The Unknowable” offered a fascinating viewing experience, weaving well-choreographed dances with professional operatic singing and allegorical song cycles that explore the lead character’s emotional expressions and curiosity.

Boston University student Lavina Kosher’s character, Edna, was danced with strength and power, and choreographer Emily Parker incorporated contemporary elements into the dance that added to the emotional expressiveness of Edna’s inner voice.

Edith Brookenberg (Aurora Martin) and Anna Reminwake (Emerald Barbour) were the highlight of the entire performance. As the yellow spotlight shone on Martin in her red gown, she delivered her French song cycle perfectly. Her voice accompanied the beautifully choreographed romantic duet between Thomas (Benjamin L. Pearson ’25) and Sara (Sula Frausto).

In the second act, Barbour — dressed in a flashy green jacket — performed an outstanding rendition of the German song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” by Gustav Mahler. In contrast to Martin’s romantic French song, Barbour’s rich, versatile voice captured the German song’s mystical, dark quality. Barbour’s voice fit wonderfully with the dance between Hannah (Kathryn E. Nairn ’26) and the Spirits (Holly Stone, Katherin Byunn-Rieder, Trinity Stevens, Sarah G. Erickson ’25, Catherine A. Martinez ’24, and Sedina A. Ackuayi ’25) — creating the dream sequence’s fantasy quality. The song cycles were the moments during which the form of the operatic ballet shone through in the most effective way. After the German song cycle, the characters Hannah and Anna Reminwake, both dressed in green as a thematic ode to the mystic world, held hands as the two characters powerfully joined. Color was similarly employed in Edna and Edith Brookenberg’s red color theme, symbolizing passion and emotion. Singers Anna Reminwake and Edith Brookenberg became the voices of dancers Hannah and Edna, uniting sound with movement.

However, the limitations of the operatic ballet are felt in the plot’s deliverance. Besides the two song cycles and the final song at the end, most of the operatic singing felt somewhat forced in conversation. The plot itself is also abstract for the audience, as there seems to be a divide between the singing characters, who can directly express their ideas, in contrast to the dancers, who can only listen and have facial expressions when they are not dancing. The turbulent emotion of Edna’s dance could be puzzling to the audience if they do not understand its motives.

Directed by lighting director John Holmes, the show’s lighting enhanced the music’s ambience and the characters’ moods through the use of different lighting colors to bring out the inner emotion of the characters. During the dance duet between Pearson and Frausto’s characters, the lighting cast silhouettes on the wall of the two dances to create a film-like quality. Anna Reinminwake’s German song cycle was washed in melancholic blue light that furthered the mysterious and self-reflective mood. The orange bright light of Hannah’s beautiful ballet resulted in a merry feeling that joined movement with the lyrics.

Despite a few shortcomings in the plot, what Rossen and the Lowell House Opera team achieved was simply amazing. While many parts of the performance may have felt too abstract, the production was a vivid aesthetic and experimental experience that explored the interaction between music, movement and emotion.

—Staff writer Dailan Xu can be reached at dailan.xu@thecrimson.com.