ABOUT THE GRANT
- $33,600 to La MaMa Experimental Theater to support Secret Journey, Dead End of School of Hard Knocks (MAP 2019)
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Secret Journey project by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks is an ongoing production series which began in 2016 at the National Gallery in Prague. Secret Journey, Dead End of School of Hard Knocks will premiere at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York in the fall of 2020. Dead End is intended to denote the final production of The School of Hard Knocks — the dance company Chuma founded in 1982. This residency at La MaMa will allow Chuma to integrate New York based artists originally from isolated countries presently experiencing political turmoil. Together, the cast will explore each of their unique cultural and political viewpoints. Through Dead End, Yoshiko Chuma will continue an investigation of ideas regarding national security, perceived dangers, borders and immigration. Chuma’s choreography develops unique movement vocabulary in correlation with the identity of each performer/dancer in order to offer alternate perspectives on movement and rhythmic expression. Her work juxtaposes historical war-time documentation with fictional film while simultaneously recycling segments from previous works. In Secret Journey, Dead End, Chuma will assemble a mosaic of images, dancers, films and interviews whose content pertains to war and suffering, as if framing theater with barbed wire.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks