The Ritual Of Breath Is The Rite To Resist Announces City-wide Series Of Community Activations

In honor of the tenth anniversary of Eric Garner's killing, Dartmouth has announced The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist is extending beyond the stage with a series of community activations in NYC in collaboration with 20+ civic partners united in resisting the ongoing theft of Black life at the hands of the state and uplifting the healing power of art and communal gathering. The series will stretch over five weeks and include concerts rooted in a range of Black musical traditions, dance and wellness sessions, interactive exhibitions, participatory performances, and curated conversations.

The events will span June 15th through July 20th, the day following the opera's New York concert premiere as part of Lincoln Center's third annual Summer for the City festival. The majority of these free events are anchored in Staten Island and uplift the artistic voices of the place where Eric Garner lived and died. Of special note is the artisan fair featuring Staten Island artisans and businesses, which will immediately precede the opera in Damrosch Park.

Explore the current calendar of activations>
Additional events and details to be announced June 15

Partners in this summer's activities include both civic and arts organizations with collaborators from across New York City-Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, Staten Island Arts, Sing Harlem, ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn Arts Council, The Africa Center, Staten Island Urban Center, New York Live Arts, Perelman Performing Arts Center, Ghetto Film School, That's Right Open Mic, The Movement Theater Company, joyontheedge, New York Theater Workshop, Apollo Theater and Lincoln Center's Summer for the City. Ritual of Breath was originally commissioned and produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth and co-commissioned by Stanford Live. Past performances at the Hopkins Center and Stanford Live, as well as the July 19th presentation at Lincoln Center, are creatively produced by Kim Whitener/KiWi Productions and associate produced by The Flea, with additional support from Dartmouth College.

The community activation strategy in NYC is led by Dartmouth alumnus Bryan Joseph Lee, founder of the creative studio CNTR ARTS, with Jahtiek Long and Sidney Erik Wright serving as Associate Community Producers. This expansive suite of events and gatherings speaks to the root causes of systemic injustice that impacted the lives of Eric Garner and his daughter Erica-central figures in the opera. They offer Black and non-Black communities alike spaces to center collective wellness, art and an ongoing commitment to the sanctity of Black lives. From its inception, Ritual of Breath has been more than an opera, and the civic engagement in New York City builds upon a set of healing rituals developed at Dartmouth College and later at Stanford University by Co-Social Impact Directors Dr. Shamell Bell and Ms. Gwen Carr with the powerful inclusion of a group of mothers who lost their children to police violence.

"Community is at the heart of Ritual of Breath, and that extends to the interconnected network of artists, activists and partners lending their power and voices to this moment," says Bryan Joseph Lee, Producer, Civic Partnerships and Community Activations. "Our hope is to honor Eric and Erica's legacies, to shine a light on the systemic injustices that made their deaths possible, and to encourage everyone to witness this memorial anniversary as an opportunity to orient their souls towards joy and justice."

Ritual of Breath: Calendar of Activations

Jun 15

Breathe In: a Gospel Celebration with Sing Harlem

In Partnership with Perelman Arts Center and Sing Harlem

Location: Perelman Arts Center Lobby Stage (MH)

6 - 8 PM | Free
Join us as we kick off a summer of city-wide activations and partnerships with a gospel celebration of joy and community.

Jun 21

Safe in the City: Summer Celebration featuring Afro-Dominicano

Presented by Staten Island Urban Center

Location: Tompkinsville Park (SI)

5 - 8 PM | Free
A festival featuring DJs, vendors, art exhibitions, and a performance by Afro-Caribbean soul band Afro-Dominicano.

Jun 18

Ash is our inheritance
an exhibition by Asmaa Jama and Gouled Ahmed

Presented by The Africa Center

Location: The Africa Center (MH)

6 - 9 PM | FREE

To the specter. The ghost. Those left out of the canon. What keeps you tethered to this realm? Join us for an evening of experimental sound and spoken word performances by exhibiting artist Asmaa Jama and guest artists Ladan Osman, Caleb Giles and others.

June 29

Taking Up Space: Dance it Out

Presented by The Movement Theater Company

Location: Playwrights Horizons Lobby (MH)

12 - 6 PM | FREE

Dance together in jubilation and Pride, uplifting our collective joy as a necessary act of resistance.

July 8

joyontheedge Short Documentary Screening

Presented by joyontheedge

Location: Ghetto Film School (BX)

6.30 - 8.30 PM | Free

Following last year's heartfelt exposition of Black liveness on Staten Island's North Shore, join us as Black creatives bring their stories to the city at large. Hosted by organizers sadé powell and Shawnakay Salmon, this screening is part of their ongoing effort to uplift local artists and their evolving narratives.

Jul 12

That's Right Open Mic

Presented by Maya da Poet

Location: Hub17NYC (SI)

7 - Midnight | Free
Maya Da Poet hosts a supersized version of the monthly open mic series in Staten Island, featuring artists: poet Ellen T Dotts, rapper Westside Buddah and others. The essence of the show is Freedom and the features will reflect that in their set. The after party features the Palindrome House Band and lead singer/music director Jordan Watkins.

Jul 13 & 14

ARTS & HEARTS: A Wellness Festival

Presented by Snug Harbor & New York Live Arts

Location: Snug Harbor (SI) & New York Live Arts (MH)

1PM - 6PM

Join Staten Island-based healing practitioners for a full weekend of art & wellness activities. Each day will feature gentle yoga classes led by BE YOGA & DANCE; African Dance classes by Miss Cheryl's Dance Company; and a Black Women's Healing Circle led by Somaliah Williams.

Jul 19

Staten Island Artisan Market: A Pre-Opera Fair

Presented by Staten Island Arts

Location: Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center

7 - 8.30 PM | Free

Before our presentation of the opera The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, join us at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park for an open-air vendors market featuring Black & Brown owned businesses from Staten Island artisans and creatives.

July 20

RITUAL 7: A Community Gathering

Location: Cadman Plaza Park

6 - 7.30 PM | Free

Join with other co-conspirators to commune, reflect and commit to continuing the movement to protect the sanctity of Black lives and breath. This activation follows the opera's performance and leads up to the final activation, a concert presented by Issue Project Room.

July 20

To Breathe is Triumph: Irreversible Entanglements
Presented by Issue Project Room & Brooklyn Arts Council

Location: First Unitarian Congregational Society

8 -10 pm
$25 Advance | $10 ISSUE Members | Limited Free Advanced tickets for Staten Island residents

A concert featuring the liberation-oriented free-jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements and afrofuturistic vocalist/improviser Shara Lunon. The quintet came together in April of 2015 at "Musicians Against Police Brutality," a day of protest sound and discussion in Brooklyn, and the band reflects a central tenet of the sound as it was founded: to be a vehicle for Black liberation.

More information and RSVP instructions at www.ritualofbreath.org.
Additional events and details to be announced June 15