The Broad Stage Hosts Virtual Screening of "Breathing Free: A Visual Album"

“Breathing Free: A Visual Album” production still courtesy of Heartbeat Opera and The Broad Stage.

On Saturday, Feb. 13, The Broad Stage of Santa Monica is presenting a virtual screening of “Breathing Free: A Visual Album,” by the critically acclaimed and world-renowned indie opera from New York, Heartbeat Opera.

Developed by Heartbeat Opera’s co-founder, Ethan Heard, creative producer, Ras Dia, filmmaker Anaiis Cisco, and a robust creative team, the piece is a combination of classical opera and modern artistry in a masterful arrangement of songs with dance and cinematography. It is composed of a predominantly Black ensemble and includes excerpts from Beethoven’s “Fidelio,” and songs, lyrics, and writings from prolific Black artists such as Florence Price and Langston Hughes.

“Breathing Free” is a reinterpretation of Heartbeat Opera’s 2018 adaptation of “Fidelio,” which was told from the perspective of Black Lives Matter. “Fidelio” featured six prison choirs and discussed the themes of incarceration, restorative justice, and more. These elements are used in “Breathing Free” which stands as a response to the current state of society in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, the global movement in support of Black Lives Matter, and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“This idea of breathing and breathing freely resonates even more powerfully now, in the midst of a pandemic that's a respiratory disease and, of course, in reference to George Floyd's murder and other murders of black folks,” said Heard, the co-founder of Heartbeat Opera. “We want this piece to be a celebration of black vitality and artistry, and also a protest and cry against injustice; a look at our carceral system which is so fraught with problems, and deep racial injustice.”

Opening night for the visual album was on Wednesday, Feb. 10, and a second screening will be on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. This will be Heartbeat Opera’s debut on the West Coast — although The Broad Stage intends to host them again for an official in-person debut once it is safe to do so amid the pandemic. The screenings begin with opening remarks and end with a panel and Q&A discussion, featuring prison artists, and activists that spoke on Wednesday’s panel, and restorative justice activists who will speak on Saturday’s panel.

The Broad Stage is the main stage of Santa Monica College’s Performing Arts Center with a mission to use art as a vehicle to service, celebrate, educate, and connect with its community and the diverse world around it. A heartfelt statement by the Artistic and Executive Director, Rob Bailis, touches on the tumultuous events of 2020, and expresses The Broad Stage’s objective to amplify marginalized voices and pursue racial justice.

Ilaan Mazzini, The Broad Stage’s Director of Education and Community Programs, explained that their partnership with organizations like Heartbeat Opera, allows The Broad Stage and its community to learn more about the artists, the organization, and the context of why their work is important. “Artists do more than just create the art, they share about the world. And often reflect to us, what is happening. So the more we choose artists that are having those kinds of conversations in combination with this very gorgeous and high-level artistry, it really gets us to both appreciate the art, and also learn something.”

“Breathing Free and Fidelio and what Heartbeat Opera has been creating, is definitely in alignment with the values of The Broad Stage,” said Mazzini. “It's the kind of work that The Broad Stage is committed to presenting so that we can have community dialogue around some of the issues that are facing our nation, our community; whether that's Santa Monica College, or a broader community.”

This performance comes during Black History Month, but is only a fraction of the Black artists that The Broad Stage showcases year-round. “While we do want to celebrate Black History Month. We also want our programming to celebrate Black artistry throughout the year. It's not just an isolated moment,” said Mazzini. “It is our intent to have work that is presented from all kinds of perspectives and diversity [year-round].”

Heartbeat Opera is an organization founded on the principle of celebrating diversity and alternative perspectives. “We're trying to be contemporary and relevant and appeal to a younger audience that might think [opera is] not for them. We want it to be accessible,” said Heard.

It was founded in 2014 by Heard and Louisa Proske upon finishing their Masters of Fine Arts at Yale University. They “wanted to distill opera to its essence and sort of strip away some of the decoration, expense, hierarchy, and compartmentalization,” said Heard. “We wanted to make opera popular and sexy and fun, and sort of mix reverence for the art form with irreverence; with a sense of humor and this modern aesthetic.”

The organization continued this mission with the innovation of “Breathing Free” as a visual album. The concept of a visual album is more popular in the pop genre than the classical genre, but “Breathing Free” used the visual album format as a guide to experiment with cinema and opera music. Heard credited Ras Dia, “Breathing Free’s” creative producer, with the proposal to make the opera a visual album. “It was a liberating idea because it allowed us to think visually in terms of collage, and in terms of standalone music videos that are also interconnected and share themes and share imagery,” said Heard.

This was translated on-screen with the help of filmmaker Anaiis Cisco and her team who shot the opera over the course of five days in L.A., Chicago, and New York; in the midst of the pandemic. “It was a tight window. We were producing music, choreography, and cinema simultaneously; as work in progress,” said Cisco.

Despite the time constraint, her team successfully captured some great performances by creating a space where the artists felt comfortable. “Some of it was just a matter of following the needs of the performer, sitting with the edit and the music, and figuring out how to cut for emotionality,” said Cisco. She hopes it’s something Black viewers can relate to and engage with. “I think being introduced to classical art through the lens of having these black performers sing out these great traditional songs is incredible, and it's a part of our history.”

Heard and Cisco are grateful for Heartbeat Opera’s partnership with The Broad Stage and look forward to sharing “Breathing Free” with the Santa Monica community. They hope that viewers enjoy it and can connect with its mission to celebrate Black artistry and protest injustice against Black lives.