THE RITUAL OF BREATH IS THE RIGHT TO RESIST
Sept 16-17, 2022 (Hanover, NH)
Oct 14-15, 2022 (Stanford, CA)
Composed by: Jonathan Berger
Visual Artist: Enrico Riley
Librettist: Vievee Francis
Conductor: Kamna Gupta
Choreography: Neema Bickersteth, Trebien Pollard, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar
Social Impact Directors: Dr. Shamell Bell, Gwen Carr
Stage Manager: Jason Kaiser
Featuring: Neema Bickersteth, Greg Ward, Fung Chern Hwei, Titilayo Ayengade, Mikael Darmanie, Bonnie Whiting, Trebien Pollard, Isaiah Robinson and a community chorus.
Designed by: Reza Behjat, Gabriel Berry, Peter Nigrini, Camilla Tassi
Co-Commissioned and Produced By The Hopkins Center
Co-Commissioned By Stanford Live
Creative Producer Kim Whitener
An offering. An opera in seven movements.
A call for justice.
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. 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 ritual website.
“[Neema] Bickersteth’s heroic and transporting performance deserves praise without measure. She was truly the show’s breath of life on opening night of a two-day run. Her achievement was supported and amplified by everything around her, from the scenic and supple projection design by Peter Nigrini to Reza Behjat’s pointed lighting, all under Niegel Smith’s disarmingly simple and lucid direction.”
-Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice