Harmattan Theater is a multidisciplinary New York City collaborative interested in the junctures between Water, Movement and Architecture.
Founded by May Joseph, the company comprises of a voluntary group of dancers, actors, composers, architects, designers, poets, scientists, environmentalists, philosophers and artists, committed to site-specific environmental performances addressing the future of Water.
We take our inspiration from the trans-Saharan Harmattan wind whose ochre dust clouds blow across Northern Africa to the Americas as a conduit of dispersal. Harmattan is a response to global climate change and its impact on Cities. We are animated by themes at the interface of Rivers, Shorelines and Oceans.
Harmattan draws on Performance as a tool for engaging with Water issues. Our preoccupations foreground the urban past, and explore how Water shapes our understanding of urban futures. Seawalls, waterfronts, islands, dilapidated piers, underground rivers, superfund sites, brown fields and marshes spur our ruminations.
Harmattan Theater’s process-oriented artistic practice is international in scope. We have collaborated with dancers, artists and theorists in other water bound cities, including the Tagus River in Lisbon, the Yamuna River in Delhi, as well as the old port cities of Cochin and Cape Town, to create performances along their Seawalls. Our interest is to continue to engage with communities around the world, creating performances on the theme of Water and its futurity.