Director Bradley Cooper & Composer James Newberry on the music for IS THIS THING ON?
Birth+Carnage - Dance and Visual Media - Music by James Newberry -Premiered in NYC 2025
Birth + Carnage is a dance work fusing choreography, astrophysics, and video installation. Born from the collaboration between choreographer Marla Phelan and astrophysicist Dr. Blakesley Burkhart, the piece is inspired by the astrophysical phenomenon of stellar birth as both visceral metaphor and choreographic framework.
In collaboration with director Tim Richardson and video artists Klsr and reinfected.me, astrophysical data is abstracted into shifting visual fields that echo cycles of creation. An ensemble of dancers performs against the backdrop of a monolithic digital installation, creating a feedback loop of allegory and sensation. The original score by James Newberry deepens the emotional terrain through epic sonic landscapes.
Birth + Carnage invites audiences into a theatrical abyss where cosmic and human systems mirror one another—bridging the vastness of the universe and the depths of human connection.
Birth + Carnage is supported by the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture division. Developed with residency support from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New Directions Choreography Lab (NDCL) at The Ailey School, and Simons Foundation & Gibney’s Open Interval Residency Program.