The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist
New York CityThe Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist
New York CityThe transdisciplinary opera comes to New York City as a creative act of resistance on the 10th anniversary of Eric Garner's killing.
Summer 2024Born from the vibrant collaboration between composer Jonathan Berger, visual artist Enrico Riley and poet/librettist Vievee Francis, the work responds to the murder of Eric Garner and the ongoing theft of Black life at the hands of the State. Music, text, projected visuals and movement interweave in a story centered on Garner's daughter, Erica. Uplifted by a 75-person choir of singers, and adapted for the outdoors, the project comes to New York City and gathers the community there as co-conspirers—to breathe and keep breathing any way we can.
Ritual of Breath is more than an opera. It is an offering for the city, coinciding with the 10-year commemoration of Garner's death. Through civic partnerships from Harlem to Staten Island, we invite you to join in community activations and collective rituals of healing throughout the summer.
Civic Partnerships
More partners and our calendar of community activations coming mid-May.
A Collaboration with
Creative Team
The work is directed by Niegel Smith, the pioneering theater artist and artistic director of The Flea; conducted by American Prize-winning Kamna Gupta; with choreography by founder of Urban Bush Women Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Ritual of Breath is grounded in work by the creative team with activist Dr. Shamell Bell and a group of mothers who have lost their children to state-sanctioned violence, including Gwen Carr, Eric Garner's mother.
Jonathan Berger, Composer
Enrico Riley, Visual Artist
Vievee Francis, Librettist
Niegel Smith, Director
Kamna Gupta, Conductor
(Left to right)
Commissioned and produced by Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth.
Co-commissioned by Stanford Live
NYC - Summer 2024
Kim Whitener/KiWi Productions, Creative Producer/Tour Producer
The Flea Theater, Associate Producer
Bryan Joseph Lee, Community Producer, NYC
The work premiered at the Hop in September 2022 and was presented at Stanford Live in October 2022. Learn more>
About the Project
"a stirring musical monodrama rooted in racial pain and defiance"
Classical Voice
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Artists
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