The Danza Ópera Rituales de Extinción (Extinction Rituals Dance Opera), created by Ximena Garnica (Colombia) and Shige Moriya (Japan) in creative complicity with composer and singer Carolina Oliveros (Colombia), the performers of the LEIMAY Ensemble, and in collaboration with artists, singers, and musicians from the Colombian Atlantic and Pacific regions—as well as communities of artists, knowledge-keepers, youth, and children from Guapi, Tumaco, Bogotá (Colombia), Shiretoko (Japan), and New York (USA)—will have its world premiere on November 14, 15, and 16, 2025, at the Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata Olivella in Bogotá.

This multidimensional creation weaves bodies, music, and images in a sensorial journey that honors the memory of species, ecosystems, and ancestral knowledge. The work draws inspiration from territories and issues such as the threats looming over Gorgona Island, the mangroves of Tumaco, and the waste crisis in the Pacific; the defense of Bogotá’s wetlands and the vitality of urban gardens; and expands towards the echoes of other species and traditions at risk in Japan and New York. More than a literal representation, it is a poetic evocation: an act that celebrates what is already lost and embraces what still resists the risk of disappearance.

For this premiere, the work brings together members of the LEIMAY Ensemble in Colombia and New York: Amaru Zárate Chaparro, David Suárez Bejarano, Alexis Sanchez, Masanori Asahara, and Krystel Mazzeo, alongside musician and dancer Jimmy Mancilla Caicedo (Escuela Tejiendo Saberes). The musical dimension is led by singers such as Carolina Oliveros and Fernanda Tenorio, percussionist Wilmar Guzmán, and musician and sound engineer Juan Manuel Pacheco, who articulate voices and sonorities from the Pacific and the Caribbean in a living bridge between the ancestral and the contemporary.

The Rituales de Extinción project has deployed rhizomatic branches, such as the video installation triptych that will premiere in Colombia as part of the Danza en la Ciudad Festival.

DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHY:
Ximena Garnica & Shige Moriya

MUSICIANS & SINGERS:
Carolina Oliveros, Fernanda Tenorio, Wilmer Guzmán, Jimmy Mancilla Caicedo, Juan Manuel Pacheco

LEIMAY ENSEMBLE:
Masanori Asahara, Krystel Mazzeo, Amaru Zárate, David Suárez, Alexis Sanchez

LIGHTING DESIGN:
Stanly Aguilar

DIRECTION ASSISTANT:
Valentina Peña

PRODUCTION:
Katherine Guevara, Camila Millán, Diego Martínez, Emilia Winschu

This Dance Opera is supported by the Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y los Saberes (Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Knowledges) through the Programa Nacional de Estímulos 2025 – Beca del Centro Nacional de las Artes para la creación y circulación de una obra interdisciplinar de artes vivas (National Stimulus Program 2025 – Grant from the National Arts Center for the creation and circulation of an interdisciplinary live arts work). It also has the isupport of Creative Capital (USA) and is co-produced by Corporación LEIMAY (Colombia) and LEIMAY (New York).

LEIMAY is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. And the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the Mellon Foundation and many generous contributions from individual donors.

LEIMAY’s works, community, and coalition programs are supported in part, by public funds from the New York City Department Of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts. And by Creative Capital, The Harkness Foundation for Dance; the National Performance Network (NPN); and the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.

Past supporters have included A.R.T./New York’s NYC Small Theatre Fund made possible with support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, Café Royal Cultural Foundation, Japan Foundation, IndieSpace, National Dance Project, Dance/NYC.

LEIMAY extends heartfelt thanks to our supporters and funders:

In Person Event

Event Dates Range

November 14, 2025 - November 16, 2025

Event Dates

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    • November 14, 2025 7:30 pm
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    • November 15, 2024 7:30 pm
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    • November 16, 2025 3:00 pm
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Venue / Location

    • Sala Delia Zapata - Centro Nacional de las Artes

    • Cl. 11 #5 – 60, Bogotá, Colombia

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