Performance Activities
IN PREPARATION
For this activity, students will need the "Performance Activity" handout and the "Opera Review" handout.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7
Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2
Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
Supporting the Student Experience during The Met: Live in HD Transmission
Watching and listening to a live performance is a unique experience that takes students beyond the printed page to an immersion in images, sound, interpretation, technology, drama, skill, and craft. These performance activities are designed to help students analyze different aspects of this experience while engaging critically with the performance. Each performance activity incorporates a reproducible sheet; students should bring these activity sheets to the Live in HD transmission and fill them out during intermission and/or after the final curtain.
For Akhnaten, the first activity sheet, “Akhnaten Archaeology,” invites students to identify how real-life Egyptian artifacts inspired Phelim McDermott’s production. Each of the five images on the reproducible handout depict real Egyptian artifacts held in museums around the world. As students watch the Live in HD transmission, they should try to identify where these images (or something like them) appear in the stage design (sets, costumes, etc.).
The second activity sheet is called “Opera Review: Akhnaten,” and it includes a scene-by-scene rating system to help students keep track of the opera’s story and develop their own opinions about what they see and hear. This activity is the same for each opera, and it is intended to guide students toward a consistent set of objective observations while enriching their understanding of the art form as a whole.
Following the performance, the Post-Show Discussion will offer a roadmap for reviewing the Live in HD performance of Akhnaten. This guided discussion activity is designed to encourage careful, critical thinking about what students have seen and heard while also inspiring students to engage in further discussion and study.