UMS Resource Guides help parents, teachers, and students work together to make connections between what is happening on stage and in the classroom.

How to Use this Guide

Welcome to the 2012-2013 Suzhou Ken Opera Theater of Jiangsu Province Resource Guide! Use the tabs above to navigate to the following pages:

Description: Information about the performance and the subject areas it relates to
Media: A gallery filled with videos, audio files, pictures, and documents about the performance
Learn: A performance companion guide for teachers to use in the classroom. Coming soon!
Attend: Online and printable logistical information about how to attend the performance
Connections: Related reading and online activities

If you only have 15 minutes, read:
- Attend Tab
- Teacher Companion Guide
- Map [PDF]

Can a 600-year-old tradition teach us about today? In 2001, UNESCO declared kunqu, the 600-year-old grand opera of China, a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”  To experience kunqu is to see Chinese characters and roles, historical and contemporary, come alive on stage.

School day youth performances are one-hour daytime performances for K-12 students in public, independent, and home schools. Tickets to these performances are requested by educators.

Performed with English supertitles.

Program
“Toushi” (Stealing Poems) from the Jade Hairpin [performed by Zhou Xuefeng, and Lü Jia]
“Shuang xiashan” (Joining the Secular World Together) from The Secular World [performed by Lü Fuhai and Shen Guofang]

     

Download the Suzhou Kun Opera Theater Teacher Companion Guide [PDF]

We want you to enjoy your time with UMS! PLEASE review the important information below about attending the Youth Performance:

Download:

Transportation Map [PDF]
Field Trip Enhancement [PDF]
Guide: Attend a Performance in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre [PDF]

Details

TICKETS We do not use paper tickets for School Day Performances. We hold school reserva¬tions at the door and seat groups upon arrival.

ARRIVAL TIME Please arrive at Mendelssohn between 10:30-10:50am to allow you time to get seated and comfortable before the show starts.

DROP OFF Have buses, vans, or cars drop off students on westbound (north) side of North University Avenue in front of the Michigan League Building. If there is no space in the drop off zone, circle the block until space becomes available. Cars may park at curbside metered spots or in the visitor parking lot behind the power Center. Buses should wait/park at Briarwood Mall.

DOOR ENTRY A UMS School Day Performance staff person will greet your group at your bus as you unload. You will enter through the main entrance (south) of the League Building.

SEATING & USHERS When you arrive at the front doors, tell the Head Usher at the door the name of your school group and he/she will have ushers escort you to your block of seats. All UMS School Day Performance ushers wear large laminated badges with their names in white letters.

BEFORE THE START Please allow the usher to seat individuals in your group in the order that they arrive in the theater. Once everyone is seated you may then rearrange yourselves and escort students to the bathrooms before the performance starts. PLEASE spread the adults throughout the group of students.

DURING THE PERFORMANCE At the start of the performance, the lights well dim and an onstage UMS staff member will welcome you to the performance and provide important logistical information. If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints (for instance, about your comfort or the behavior of surrounding groups) please IMMEDIATELY report the situation to an usher or staff mem¬ber in the lobby.

PERFORMANCE LENGTH One hour (approximately) with no intermission.

AFTER THE PERFORMANCE When the performance ends, remain seated. A UMS staff member will come to the stage and release each group individually based on the location of your seats.

BUS PICK UP When your group is released, please exit the performance hall through the same door you entered. A UMS School Day Perfor¬mance staff member will be outside to direct you to your bus.

AAPS TRANSPORTATION You will likely not get on the bus you arrived on; a UMS staff mem¬ber or AAPS Transportation Staff person will put you on the first available bus.

LOST STUDENTS A small army of volun¬teers staff School Day Performances and will be ready to help or direct lost and wandering students.

LOST ITEMS If someone in your group loses an item at the performance, contact the UMS Youth Education Program (umsyouth@umich.edu) to attempt to help recover the item.

NO FOOD No food or drink is allowed in the theater.

SENDING FEEDBACK We LOVE feedback from students, so after the performance please send us any letters, artwork, or academic papers that your students create in response to the performance: UMS Youth Education Program, 881 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011.

ACCESSIBILITY There is a barrier free access located at the North University entrance to the building, with elevator access to the main floor of the theater level. Wheelchair seating is available on the rear of the main floor. Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre is equipped with assistive listening devices. Earphones may be obtained upon arrival. Please ask an usher for assistance.

The Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre is located in the Michigan League Building on the University of Michigan’s central campus. The main entrance is off of North University, in front of the Michigan League Building. Elevators for access to the both the Main Floor and Balcony are located in the middle of the Michigan League along the main hallway.

From a 2008 production by Suzhou Kun Opera Theater of Jiangsu Province