Ma Stream #1

Ma Streams are a series of new works created in New York City during social isolation by multidisciplinary artists Shige Moriya and Ximena Garnica in collaboration with the LEIMAY Ensemble members: Masanori Asahara, Krystel Copper, Mar Galeano, and Andrea Jones.

Ma Streams are shorthand cinematic dances of bodies suspended in a twinkle of time. Performed in “real-time” using the gaze of the frame as a form to delve into the existence of formless voids.

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LEIMAY ENSEMBLE is a group of international dancers and performers who create body-centered works around the principle of LUDUS, a practice that explores methods to physically condition the body of the performers and develop a sensitivity to the “in-between space.” Ensemble members are selected through a workshop audition process. Current Ensemble members include Masanori Asahara, Krystel Copper, Derek DiMartini, Mario Galeano, and Andrea Jones. Founded in 2012 by Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya, the group took form through the creation of the Becoming Series pentalogy, of which three parts have been created: Becoming Corpus, borders, and Frantic Beauty (Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2013-2017). The group holds a regular practice at their studio in Brooklyn where they engage in the creation of new work in addition to teaching, training, research, and distillation of years of direct transmission of embodied knowledge by Japanese Butoh pioneers, Noguchi Taiso practitioners, and Experimental Theater innovators.

MASANORI ASAHARA (Dancer) is a Japanese born dancer, choreographer, and improvisation artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has been a core member of the LEIMAY Ensemble since 2010. He has worked for choreographers Kota Yamazaki, Isabel Gotzkowsky, and Nathan Trice, and has collaborated with visual artists, installation artists, musicians, filmmakers and multimedia artists in a variety of projects. He has performed at BAM Fisher, Brooklyn Museum, Judson Church, Watermill Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (Bogotá, Colombia), Mesa Art Center (Arizona), and Tulsa Performing Arts Center William Theater (Oklahoma).

KRYSTEL COPPER (Dancer) joined LEIMAY as a member of the performance and research ensemble in 2016 for the premiere of Frantic Beauty at BAM. She is a second-generation immigrant artist born to parents from Argentina and Portugal. Krystel holds a B.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland. She has performed with Amanda+James, Gesel Mason Performance Projects, B3W, Anahata Dance, CircuitDebris, Caenis at Pace, Estado Flotante, and Not for ReTALE, as well as presented her own work at DNA (2012), and ECHT Vision (2019) in collaboration with Ron Copper. Krystel has been contributing to the development of LEIMAY LUDUS and is currently training to be a LUDUS teaching artist.

MARIO GALEANO (Dancer) is a visual and performance artist from Paraguay. They join the LEMAY Ensemble in 2016 to perform in Frantic Beauty at BAM and they continue dancing and training as an Ensemble Member. Mario braids elements of photography, drag, theater, and dance to create visual koans. Art is Mario’s vessel to explore the human condition, to be present, to give unconditionally, and to enjoy life. They’ve had the honor to work with the Eileen Fisher Leadership Institute, a program for young adults leading towards self-empowerment and activism.

ANDREA JONES (Dancer) joined LEIMAY as a member of the performance and research ensemble in 2012. Since becoming part of the LEIMAY team, she has had the opportunity to study with world-renowned butoh masters and dancers such as Ko Murobushi, Moeno Wakamatsu, Sherwood Chen, Tadashi Endo, Kota Yamazaki, Yuko Kaseki, and Su-en. She is also an active contributor to the development of the LEIMAY LUDUS. Andrea is a graduate of George Mason University, where she double majored in dance and comparative literature with a focus on Asian literature. In 2016-2017 she lived in Japan studying Noguchi Taiso in Osaka, Tokyo, and Aomori with teacher Mari Osanai. She is a certified yoga instructor and death doula and is currently pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary within the field of Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement.