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.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.3
Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
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 Madama Butterfly, the first activity sheet, The Art of the Director, encourages students to tease out the interpretive decisions of the director from the visual clues on stage. Students will consider how added props and various staging decisions affect their perception of the opera’s meaning and its overall style.
The second activity sheet is called “Opera Review: Madama Butterfly,” 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 Madama Butterfly. 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.