About the Opera

The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist is a chamber opera-theater work by Jonathan Berger, Enrico Riley and Vievee Francis that responds to the murder of Eric Garner and the ongoing loss of Black life at the hands of authorities. Having premiered at Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center for the Arts and Stanford Live, Ritual of Breath leverages the power of music, text, dance and visual art to create a deeply moving meditative experience that aims to evoke empathy and understanding and to spur activism beyond the stage.

The universal international relevance of the work is palpable, as we see the reverberations of similar acts of violence in every country across the globe. The specific situation of Ritual of Breath becomes a metaphor for anywhere such actions take place as it evokes the reality of “the other” in our world. Erica, the center of this experience, has lost her father to police violence. An artist and activist, she calls on her community to create and participate in a ritual of healing. Her action captures the profound intimacy of personal loss as well as how communities gather around those affected. The performance unfolds across seven movements and concludes with a summons for the audience to determine their own path forward in the fight for social justice.

Eric Garner’s story is one of a person martyred in a society that has gone deeply awry. The artists have asked how through the power of their collective art they can invite a global audience to consider the state of affairs, to consider their own breath, and by extension consider the breath of others. Together we hope this piece is a call to resist and heal from violence perpetuated by racist and constricting worldviews.

Project History

In 2016 visual artist Enrico Riley and composer Jonathan Berger joined forces as fellow Prix de Rome recipients to create a work that grappled with these issues, inviting poet Vievee Francis to craft the powerful libretto. Pioneering theater artist Niegel Smith came on to direct  and Kamna Gupta to conduct. Jawole Willa Jo Zollar consulted on choreography. Together, their work has resulted in a groundbreaking opera that features Riley’s captivating paintings and drawings of Black life, an evocative soundscape comprising piercing soprano vocals and the music of a chamber ensemble, poetic dance movements and immersive projections by Peter Nigrini.

The opera premiered on September 16, 2022 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth (Hanover, NH) and then was mounted at Stanford University (Standford, CA) on October, 2022.

About Community Impact & Activation

To further ground the work, the creative team engaged a group of mothers who have lost their children to state-sanctioned violence. Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, and activist Dr. Shamell Bell joined the project as Co-Social Impact Directors. Their voices add real-life perspectives and provide the context necessary to understand healing practices and rituals. Dr. Bell and director Niegel Smith led the design of a series of rituals that will be shared with all presenters as part of a social impact toolkit. All the rituals themselves are editable to become specific to each location the performance travels.

As Ritual is remounted in New York City in Summer 2024, these are civic partnerships and community activations across the city.

Meet the Artists

All Artists

Gallery

Neema Bickersteth and members of the recorded chorus in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth and members of the recorded chorus in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth and Greg Ward in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth and Greg Ward in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Isaiah Robinson and Neema Bickersteth in Movement 2 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Isaiah Robinson and Neema Bickersteth in Movement 2 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard from Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard from Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth, Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth, Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Trebien Pollard and Greg Ward in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth and Trebien Pollard in Movement 3 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 4 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 4 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 6 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 6 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 6 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

Neema Bickersteth in Movement 6 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Ben DeFlorio.

The Community Chorus in Movement 7 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

The Community Chorus in Movement 7 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Laura Swoyer.

The Community Chorus in Movement 7 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.

The Community Chorus in Movement 7 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, photo by Katherine Lenhart.