The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist
Artwork: Enrico Riley, Keep on Breathing
Performance

The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist

September 16 - 17, 2022

This event occurred as part of the 22/23 Hop Original season. This is an archived view.

An offering. An opera in seven movements. A call for justice.

2022/23 Season

Responding to the murder of Eric Garner, this meditative and immersive work is a creative act of resistance. Centering the voice and plea of an activist / daughter / soprano, The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist interweaves music, text, visuals and movement, gathering us together as co-conspirers—to breathe and keep breathing any way we can.

Commissioned and produced by Hopkins Center for the Arts
Co-commissioned by Stanford Live

Ritual of Breath Creative Team

View the full artistic team >

The opera is preceded by six days of digital and in-person rituals, inviting participants to share in communal acts of healing and reflection. Visit the project website >

Join In 

Ritual-Related Events

9/11–15

Rituals I–V | Virtual and In-Person

9/16

2 pm — BIPOC Healing Event | Dartmouth Organic Farm | RSVP

5:15 pm — Dinner | Shabazz Center for Intellectual Inquiry | RSVP

6:45 pm — Ritual VI Gathering | Hopkins Center Plaza

7:30 pm — The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist | Spaulding Auditorium

9 pm — Post-Show Conversation and Community Gatherings
A conversation with the Ritual of Breath creators, followed by the option to continue the conversation in small affinity groups (Black folks; Queer/Trans Folks; all others)

9/17

6:45 pm — Ritual VI Gathering | Hopkins Center Plaza
Gather as a community and collectively read a movement of the libretto immediately preceding the performance.

7:30 pm — The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist | Spaulding Auditorium

9 pm — Post-Show Conversation and Community Gatherings

Ritual of Breath is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Reverberating against the ongoing theft of Black breath by the police, the work was born from a collaboration between Enrico Riley '95, a painter and Dartmouth professor of Studio Arts, and Jonathan Berger, a composer and professor of Music at Stanford. The two engaged Vievee Francis, a poet and member of the Dartmouth English department, to craft the powerful libretto. As the project has evolved to include other artist-activists, pioneering theater artist Niegel Smith '02 joined as director.

Throughout its journey, the creative team has been inspired by the healing practices of survivor mothers who have lost their children to state-sanctioned violence. Guided by Dr. Shamell Bell and in concert with Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, the work reflects the experiences and conversations held among the artists, these mothers, Dartmouth students and our local community affected by the crisis.

The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist
2022/23 Season

This season, the arts are everywhere. As the Hop's iconic building undergoes renovation and expansion, our offerings will be popping up in venues all across campus and the Upper Valley. View our...

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12 Lebanon Street
Hanover, NH

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