SOIL:FIELD of AWARENESS to Bring Butoh Ritual to Newtown Creek in Brooklyn

Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute will present SOIL:FIELD of AWARENESS, an immersive performance-ritual by Marina 'Heron' Tsaplina, joined by a cast of eight performers and a network of interdisciplinary collaborators, on Saturday, September 26 & Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 4PM at Penny Bridge in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A $22 donation is suggested. 

Taking place at the origin point of the historic Greenpoint oil spill along Newtown Creek, SOIL:FIELD of AWARENESS invites audiences into a deep sensory encounter with the ecological history and living environment of the place.

Through Butoh, puppetry, sound vibration, live drumming, and music, participants are invited to become the voice, movement, and witness to the soils and waters of Newtown Creek.

Presented as NYC Climate Week draws to a close, the work creates a space for audiences to slow down and attune to the ecological rhythms of soil, tree, water, stone, and bone - connecting the human nervous system to the larger environmental systems that sustain us.

SOIL:FIELD of AWARENESS is created by Marina 'Heron' Tsaplina, in collaboration with a cast of eight performers and a mycelial network of artists, practitioners, and community partners.

The project approaches performance as a form of ecological listening, using the body, vibration, movement, puppetry, and sound to cultivate awareness of the histories held within land and water and of the relationships between human and more-than-human life.

Creative Team

Butoh-Puppetry:

Oscar Suh Rodriguez

Ashley Ragus

Moira Zhang

Stephen Carrington

Musicians: Cal Fish, Chai Smith

Drummer: Paul Nabil Matthis

Sound Vibration: Gisela Sanders Alcantara

Producer: Caitlin Adams 

Costume Designer: Normandy Sherwood

Technical Director: Daniel Wendlek 

Fabrication Team:

Samia Cohen

Fan Kong

Ofelia Mangen