An opera in seven movements.
A series of offerings in community.
A call for justice.
Watch our document short on the ideas, opera and powerful moment when the project landed in New York City in July 2024, ten years after Eric Garner’s killing.
The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist is a transdisciplinary project and creative act of resistance that responds to the killing of Eric Garner.
Centering the voice and plea of an activist/daughter/ soprano, the opera gathers us together as co-conspirers to breathe and keep breathing any way we can.
Expanding beyond the stage, the project adapts to include community activations wherever the work is performed. In summer 2024, the project landed in New York City honoring the 10th anniversary of Eric Garner’s killing. The opera was presented for free as part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City and included a month-long series of community events and gatherings that centering collective healing, joy and Black life and creativity in Staten Island.
Ritual of Breath | 2024 Excerpts
Filmed July 2024 at Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City Festival, where the opera was performed for free for more than 1,000 people.
Gallery
Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Participants gathering at Ritual 7, Cadman Plaza Brooklyn. Photo by Sol & Yue Productions.
Activation kick-off, Knoelle Higginson and Sing Harlem at Perelman Performing Arts Center, NYC. Photo by Sol & Yue Productions.
Activations kick-off event at Perelman Performing Art Center, NYC. Photo by Sol & Yue Productions.
Bryan Joseph Lee, NYC Community Producer at Perelman Performing Arts Center. Photo by Sol & Yue Productions.
Soprano Neema Bickersteth, Movement 7. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Soprano Neema Bickersteth, Movement 1. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Dancer Trebien Pollard, Movement 3. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Choir at dress rehearsal at Lincoln Center. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Soprano Neema Bickersteth, Movement 3. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Knoelle Higginson at Food for the Soul Activation. Photo by Sol & Yue Productions.
Soprano Neema Bickersteth and dancer Trebien Pollard, Movement 3. Photo by Marcus Middleton.
Chorus Movement 7. Photo by Michael Bodel.
Chorus Movement 7. Photo by Michael Bodel.
Creative Team
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Jonathan Berger
Composer
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Vievee Francis
Librettist
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Kamna Gupta
Conductor
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Enrico Riley
Visual Artist
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Niegel Smith
Theater Director
Partners
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Stanford Live
Co-commissioner & co-presenter
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Lincoln Center
Presenting Partner
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The Flea
Associate Producer
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CNTR Arts
Community Producer
Producers
The project is commissioned, developed, and produced by The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth.
Co-commissioned by Stanford Live at Stanford University.
Creative Producer/Tour Producer: Kim Whitener/KiWi Productions
NYC Presenting Partner: Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City
NYC Associate Producer: The Flea Theater
NYC Community Producer: Bryan Joseph Lee / CNTR Arts
Ritual on Instagram
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Community Activations
Ritual of Breath is enriched by community activations and healing rituals in every commucity where it is performed.
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About the Opera
The interdisciplinary opera by Jonathan Berger, Enrico Riley and Vievee Francis responds to the murder of Eric Garner and the ongoing loss of Black life at the hands of authorities.
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Media Gallery
Explore the project through video and photography.