“We have not inherited the earth from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children.” - Wendell Berry "3 RITES: LIFE is a world constructed of recycled materials that invites the audience to engage in a multi-layered visual and immersive experience. Through craft-making, visual art, theater, and dance, the audience is taken on an interactive journey to witness a land that can be sculpted, destroyed, and rebuilt again… with more plastic." - Dance Enthusiast, Touissant Jeanlouis
The Life rite is a mash-up between a DIY Haunted house, Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, and a dance performance. It emphasizes responsible stewardship of nature and questions our dependency on fossil fuels. The rite begins in The Greenroom, which is an interactive educational space where the audience can:
Participate in creative reuse workshops such as making beads out of plastic straws or musical instruments out of discarded objects
Color in a chalk mural depicting images and quotes by Black, Hispanic and Indigenous environmental activists
Listen and/or participate in a discussion about the Buen Vivir movement, which advocates for a shift in values, where a nation’s success is not determined by corporations and the GDP. Instead, what determines a nation’s success is the well-being of its citizens - how many people have access to health care, education, food, affordable housing, and are living above the poverty line. Buen Vivir redefines values, and emphasizes that humans are not owners of the earth and its resources, instead we are stewards of the earth.
From The Greenroom, the audience transitions to move through the Black Spirit Room and the Interactive Trash Canopy, to arrive at The Wasteland - a large installation of plastic trash which the audience helps build. The rite culminates in the Wastelandia Game Show, where two audience contestants are invited to answer multiple-choice questions about all things plastic. As part of the Game Show a Green Award is presented to a local environmental justice group.
3 RITES: Life will premiere in Spring 2025 at Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island, NY.
CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Concept: Edisa Weeks Choreography: Edisa Weeks in collaboration with the performers Performers: Mars Garcia, Uilalani Marx, Devin Oshiro, Ashley Pierre-Louis, J’nae Simmons, EmmaGrace Skove-Epes Text: Edisa Weeks Sound Environment: LaFrae Sci Lighting Design: Tim Cryan Set Design: You-Shin Chen & Edisa Weeks Creative Advisor: James Scruggs Creative Producer: Marýa Wethers Community Engagement Coordinator: Rebecca Fitton (2017-2021), Maya Simone Z. (2021 – 2023) Production Director: Violet Asmara Tafari Illustration: Leo Jimenez
Many Thanks to: Jake Bone, Angel Chinn, and Johnnie Mercer who contributed to the making of the life rite. * 3 RITES: Life is a National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by 651 ARTS, Mount Tremper Arts, RestorationART, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, DancePlace and NPN/VAN. 3 RITES is made possible in part through funding from the Brooklyn Arts Council; Creative Capital; Durst Organization; Harkness Foundation for Dance; The New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project which is generously supported with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation; New Music USA; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; a PSC-CUNY Award, jointly funded by The Professional Staff Congress and The City University of New York; The Puffin Foundation, as well as through the sponsorship of The Field; and the generosity of individuals.
The Life rite was developed through creative residencies with Chashama Space to Create; ChoreoQuest at RestorationART - Billie Holiday Theater; a remote residency with the Experimental Media and Performance Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Materials for the Arts; New York State Dance Force residencies at Topaz Arts and at Hobart and William Smith Colleges; and Snug Harbor Cultural Center.
REVIEWS
Dance Enthusiast, DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: 651 Arts Presents Delirious Dances/Edisa Weeks “3 RITES: LIFE” (Work in Progress) by Touissant JeanLouise, Link
photos: Alex Bershaw, mirembe
work-in-process showing presented by 651 ARTS Sept. 2023
COMMUNITY PARTNERS SEPTEMBER 2023
Thursday September 14, 2023 Bead making workshop from plastic straws and zippers with Pamela Issac, Materials for the Arts
Friday September 15, 2023 Buen Vivir Discussion with John Gersham
Saturday and Sunday September 16 & 17, 2023 Musical Instrument making workshop from found objects with Skip LaPlante, Materials for the Arts * Materials for the Arts is New York City’s premiere municipal Creative Reuse arts & education center. MFTA aims to build relationships with the New York City arts, culture and educational communities by teaching the value of Creative Reuse and supplying endless donated materials for art making. The goal is to make a larger impact on the global carbon footprint through sustainability practice in creativity.