Collaboration Projects
Madame Butterfly at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia
with Opera Philadelphia - April 26-May 5, 2024
In January of 2024, while Hua Hua was visiting her family back in China, she was contacted by David Levy, a Vice President of Opera Philadelphia, about bringing her expertise to create a doll-like puppet for their upcoming production of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly." This creative dialogue continued over the next two months and eventually culminated in Hua Hua designing and building two puppet versions of the title character, Ciao Ciao San, and performing the larger puppet's physical actions while Soprano Karen Chia-Ling Ho sang the role alongside her.
Alongside Production Designer Yuki Izumihara's projections, Ethan Heard's direction, under Conductor Corrado Rovaris, and with the assistance of Jacinta Yelland's additional puppet movement, Hua Hua's contribution and interpretation was acclaimed by audiences.
"The puppet Cio Cio San gave an academy award performance, bending the entire audience to her will. She was captivating with head movements and gestures fully displaying the emotions she was experiencing, at times loving in Pinkerton’s arms and at times shaking on the floor from fear and heartbreak. I was drawn into the fantasy." --OperaGene
Photography by Ray Bailey, Adam Danoff, Emma Lee, & Sofia Negron
With Gamin Kang - "The Emotions: Impermanence" - March 22 & 23, 2023
In 2023 Hua Hua provided her vision as a designer and artist for multi-instrumentalist Gamin Kang's music show, "The Emotions: Impermanence." Hua Hua designed and created costumes and masks for the performers as well as consulting on the visual style of the staging and choreography of the show.
Gamin is a Korean born US based multi-instrumentalist specialized for traditional Korean wind. She tours the world performing both traditional Korean music and cross-disciplinary collaborations. She is a scholar and designated Yisuja, official holder of Korea's Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 46.
Since 2018, gamin curated performances at the Center for Remembering and Sharing. For 2020, gamin was selected as artist-in-residency at the HERE Arts Center, NYC, and her album 'Nong' was released by Innova Records. gamin's Carnegie Hall solo début, accompanied by Nangye Gugak Orchestra, scheduled for March 2020, was postponed by Covid 19. For 2021-2023, gamin was awarded the prestigious Fellowship by Jerome Hill Foundation and Howard Foundation.
Hua Hua Zhang has performed for Tan Dun’s Orchestral Theatre IV : THE GATE from 2000 to 2013
SYNOPSIS:
'Orchestral Theatre' is the form that I was trying to create for a modern symphony, having a sort of ancient ritualistic performance format, combined with the symphonic traditions. And so in "Orchestral Theatre", so far I wrote four of them; No.1 focuses on the ancient rituals, the orchestra players not just playing but they are shouting, hunting, humming, singing, and it’s like Balinese, it’s like Aboriginal, it’s like a kind of ensemble in the village. So "Orchestral Theatre", the concept of it is enlarged, as the music develops from earlier themes. So I think to continue to save the life of orchestra, we had to continue the tradition of all kinds of not just 200 or 300 years of a Western or Chinese sort of condition, but we have to go much wider. --Tan Dun
Renowned composer Tan Dun invites you to his multi-media opera "The Gate" this mid-November to witness, listen and appreciate the confession of three women, Yu Ji from the Peking Opera "Farewell My Concubine", Juliet from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and Koharu from Chikamatsu's "The Love Suicides at Amijima", at the Gate of resurrection telling the stories of their tragic love. - New Wave Festival Hong Kong
Hua Hua Zhang sculpted and performed the Japanese character of Koharo. She has discovered the essence of the character, bringing a rich, new interpretation to Tan Dun's production. She has performed for worldwide audiences including those in Shanghai, Guangzhou & Beijing, China, BAM. NY, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A., London, England, Belgium, Lyon, France, London, England, Munich & Hamberg, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg, Lisbon, Portugal, Singapore and Taipei, Taiwan.
Photography by Gong Ru-Mei & Zhai Ming
Playing With Klee
Hua Hua Zhang joined the company of Masque Theatre and the Ming Ri Theatre of Hong Kong in Playing With Klee, a U.S./China joint venture production 2000
Playing with Kiee explored of the Life and Vision of Paul Klee. Hua Hua Zhang was a performer in this production. She also designed, sculpted and performed a large puppet for the piece called “Ein Dame ” in this production.
Photography by Bill H..
Mandala
Hua Hua cllaboration with Kun - Yang Lin Dancers for their project “Mandala ”, - Visual Artist . Create Paper-Sculpture for the First scene - “The Earth”, February, 20l1.
Renard
Hua Hua collaboration with Kun - Yang Lin Dancers for their project “ Renard” Igor Stravinsky for Kimmel Center Performing Art Festival 2011 - Masks Designer and Sculptor. April, 2011.