Japan Society Presents 'Extinction Rituals' by Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya

Prepare to be transported to a world of mesmerizing images and powerful sensorial tapestries with Extinction Rituals, the latest Creative Capital-awarded project from Brooklyn-based multifaceted artist duo Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya. Movement, light, live music and song converge in this work-in-progress dance opera inspired by acts of remembrance and celebrations of life and loss. With their unique blend of directorial, choreographic and design craft, Garnica and Moriya shape a poetic tribute to collapsing environments, animals, plants and humans from their places of origin, Colombia and Japan, and their current home, New York.

Extinction Ritual's score includes original music by Oscar-nominated composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe and Colombian composer and singer Carolina Oliveros, performed live. The two composers' live performance resonates with the butoh-rooted work of the LEIMAY Ensemble, including dancers Masanori Asahara, Akane Little, Damontae Hack and Peggy Gould. Following the showings, Garnica and Moriya sit down for a Q&A with guest speakers, collaborators, and the audience to elaborate on the international and local exchanges behind this timely and profoundly collaborative piece. Extinction Rituals will have two performances only at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street), Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10 at 7:30pm. Performance running time approximately 60 minutes.

Extinction Rituals at Japan Society marks the beginning of a multi-year, multi-dimensional project produced by LEIMAY and currently being developed through intensive residencies, workshops, and community exchanges at multiple locations in Kyoto, Hokkaido (Japan); Guapi, Villa de Leyva, Sierra Nevada (Colombia); and New York (USA). Ximena and Shige are creating multiple kinds of encounters with artists, scientists, community members, sabedores and knowledge keepers. Through these gatherings, they are opening opportunities to embody and sense different ways of knowing and feeling; to empower each other through collective imagining, and to cultivate spaces for social actions related to the loss of biodiversity and the decimation of ancestral communities in their places of origin and the places they now call home. For this piece, composer Kaoru Watanabe and vocalist Carolina Oliveros collaborated to create an original score for voice, taiko, maracas, koto and electronics that will stir your bodily senses and emotions. Filled with acts of remembrance and collective grieving, Extinction Rituals opens an entryway for audiences to process the complexities of industrialization, modernity, and the Anthropocene. Witness the highly physical and meditative work of the LEIMAY Ensemble, whose dance work has evolved from the Japanese butoh lineage in a powerful interplay with Garnica and Moriya's highly-crafted stage designs. Extinction Rituals will leave you moved, reflective and inspired.

Extinction Rituals is directed, choreographed, and designed (stage/lights/costumes) by Ximena Garnica & Shige Moriya. LEIMAY Ensemble performers include Masanori Asahara, Angelica Barbosa, Damontae Hack, Akane Little, Yusuke Mori and Irena Romendick. Music is composed and performed by Kaoru Watanabe and Carolina Oliveros.