Illuminate the Lock Returns to the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in September

Via a July 20 e-newsletter from Northern Lights.mn:

Artist concept sketch, Returning the River by Mike Hoyt, Dameun Strange and Molly Van Avery, 2018. Courtesy the artists.

We are pleased to announce that Returning the River, an experimental, participatory opera about the Mississippi River that explores collective dreams of freedom by Mike Hoyt, Dameun Strange, and Molly Van Avery has been selected for the next Illuminate the Lock project, September 20-22, at the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam.

Returning the River is a night of poetry, projection, and music that illuminates a future where both rivers and people are liberated, where we celebrate wildness, and where we practice reciprocal relationships between all bodies of water, including one another's. The project consists of a series of visual projections by Mike Hoyt, a soundscape arranged by Dameun Strange, and singers above and in the Lock performing a libretto by Molly Van Avery. Audience members will be invited to sing and hold water drawn up from the Lock to talk to or listen to, then pour back into the river to make its way to the sea.

Illuminate the Lock is a partnership between Northern Lights.mn, Mississippi Park Connection, and the National Park Service with support from the Saint Anthony Falls Heritage Board and the US Army Corps of Engineers.