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June 28, 2025 Evening Show: https://asiasociety.org/new-york/events/ghosts-hell-creek-stone-garuda-premiere-performance
GHOSTS of HELL CREEK: STONE GARUDA
US Tour performances at Asia Society, NYC
The Asia Society Museum in New York City is a leading cultural institution devoted to fostering understanding of Asia and its global connections. It presents a wide range of exhibitions, performances, and public programs that explore the art, history, and contemporary issues of Asia and the Asian diaspora. As part of the broader Asia Society, the museum serves as a platform for cross-cultural dialogue through the arts.
In this performance by the Prehistoric Body Theater ensemble, Indonesian dancers channel prehistoric dinosaurs as they explore themes of mass extinction, climate crisis, and evolutionary ancestry through movement. Praised as “an innovative form of global public outreach for paleontology” (Oxford University Press), the company fuses animal movement with traditional dance and experimental Javanese percussion. Co-created with Indigenous Indonesian performing artists, Prehistoric Body Theater collaborates with international scientists to craft performances informed by cutting-edge paleontology—uniting art, science, and a deep commitment to nature conservation.
GHOSTS OF HELL CREEK: STONE GARUDA
66 million years ago, a massive asteroid struck Earth with the force of a billion atomic bombs. The resulting apocalyptic extinction, which ended the 150-million-year reign of dinosaurs, is preserved in the fossils of Montana’s Hell Creek Formation. In this prehistoric world, the feathered raptor Acheroraptor prowled with elegance and grace before its annihilation in the fires of mass extinction. Yet amidst the devastation, a miracle emerged: humanity’s earliest primate ancestor, Purgatorius, survived the chaos and thrived on the first fruits of a reborn world.
For Prehistoric Body Theater's debut tour to the United States, Stone Garuda brings this prehistoric drama to life in a special touring edition of their large-scale production Ghosts of Hell Creek. The performance features the company's iconic biomimetic animal movement infused with the performers' deep backgrounds in Indonesian traditional dance, sculpted by their distinctive costume aesthetic of full-body textured clay makeup and iconic prosthetic enhancements, creating a portal to Earth's prehistoric past.
Stone Garuda celebrates the elegant mating rituals of Acheroraptor, brought vividly to life through the phenomenon of lekking—a biological ritual where males display their feathers, calls, and dances, while females hold ultimate power through their choice of mate. Fusing these ancient behaviors with inspirations from East Java's romantic Gandrung courtship dance tradition, accompanied by an original gamelan score by Hangsun Gandrung, Stone Garuda creates an unforgettable encounter with our evolutionary past—where dinosaurs dance on the edge of extinction while the seeds of our own ancestry take root.