May Joseph

May Joseph is the Founder and Artistic Director of Harmattan Theater, an environmental theater company based in New York City. Harmattan Theater's mission is to collaborate with coastal and river peoples around the world, addressing ecological, environmental and urban issues. Harmattan's philosophy is that performance is a powerful technique to engage with the pressing challenges of climate change impacting coastal and low-lying regions around the world. Movement, Dance, and Theater awaken people to their surroundings, offering productive coping mechanisms for building resilience. Harmattan's performances explore the fragility of land/sea interfaces, addressing climate adaptation and the dire consequences of storm surge. We collaborate with sites that were destroyed by climate change, storm impacted or just forgotten over time, such as buried rivers and eroded shorelines. Harmattan cultivates a renewed respect for the nonhuman- the ocean, stones, rivers.