PRESENTING "LIGHTS-OUT"
"Lights-Out" is a multidisciplinary public event that honors New York City's waning firefly population. It was recently performed in Brooklyn (in Highland Park, on Sept. 7) and in Manhattan (in the Open Streets program, for the Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District, on Sept. 14). It was produced by Julia Gleich Dances and Norte Maar, and is currently a public-programming partner of the NYC Department of Transportation. "Lights-Out" is the first of a series by choreographer Sarah Yasmine Marazzi-Sassoon called "Fables For the Future": a collection of stories told through dance, music, and film inspired by imperiled ecosystems around the world.
WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?
New York City, home to over 8 million people, is also a habitat for hundreds of species such as birds, bats, beavers, and our focus: fireflies. In fact, NYC has over 30 different endemic species of fireflies. Most long-time New Yorkers will remember them as icons of their childhood summer nights. But due to habitat loss and climate change, this once-thriving population has dwindled so much that today's NYC kids will be lucky to see just a few flitting sparks on their increasingly sweltering summer nights. In mythology, fireflies symbolize memories and stories from the past. So what happens if these are being lost?
DETAILS ON THE PUBLIC EVENT IN SEPTEMBER
The event began with firefly origami and other art activities led by artist Sophia Chizuco, followed by an all-ages talk on firefly communication and life cycles with science educator Gabriel Willow. At dusk the audience, holding hand-made firefly lanterns by Sophia Chizuco, were led through song (lyrics by Hannah Story Brown) in a procession by composer Jude Icarus and singer Samantha Seiff. Along the way, dancers joined the crowd until it reached a clearing; there, the audience paused and the dancers performed a piece inspired by firefly flight patterns, by the mythology and folklore around fireflies, and by the causes causing firefly population decline. The piece ended with two dancers gripping one another, striving to balance a light between their bodies as they tried to dance—symbolizing the precarity of the ecosystems we inhabit.
WHAT PEOPLE GET FROM IT
The audience called the performances "compelling" and "joyous" and "beautiful"; and kids and adults alike were drawn in by the participatory origami and the informative science talk.
VIDEO RECAP OF THE EVENT