“Love is Shock takes its place alongside the earliest Butoh performances that were created and performed in the aftermath of WWII. Shinichi MOMO Koga has given us a solo performance that digests the horror of warfare and transforms it into a thing of hope. A riveting performer of great skill and craft, Koga embodies the spirit of protest against all the destructive forces on earth.’’ – Sima Belmar, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 2003
Press Quote – The Arts Cure, Infanticity by Joan Laage, NYBF 2003
“Ms. Laage’s Infanticity involved a candle, first seen behind a scrim, then carried slowly across the stage and back. There was also an icon of the Holy Mother of God, as the Eastern tradition calls the Virgin Mary, and her child. There was scattering of dead flowers, balling up of a purple groundcloth, and balling up of the performer into a fetal position. The Rumanian music, part of a music collage, was ecstatic and consummate in its performance, and a counterpoint to the performer, who seemed to be trying to beat herself into an ecstatic state with the audience as … Continued
Testimonial – Cora Laszlo, Fellowship
“I appreciate the fact that LEIMAY is a very intimate and familiar place where everyone is involved in the process of making things happen with rigor and joy. I also admire the questions Ximena asks us and her provocations to the projects, not imposing, but opening other ways to look at it. . . I admire LEIMAY and all its actions – their activity as an organization and their creative work. It’s a great joy to be one of the garden fellows and have the opportunity to be closer to them and also get to know the other fellows. LEIMAY … Continued
Testimonial – Nana Chinara, Fellowship
“The LEIMAY Fellowship and Outsight performance program undoubtedly grew and challenged my work as an artist, outside of the bounds that I imagined. The community building expertise, practice, and support provided by LEIMAY staff and Ximena and Shige conceptualized and grounded my work in integrity with myself. I was able to realize my work as not simply a dance performance, but as something informed by and in conversation with the community around me, and therefore inspiring change in those who witnessed me. The professional development workshops around community building and public performance gave my work the space I did not … Continued