Musicians, dancers and designers interact, albeit indirectly, as nineteen chapters cross over each other within the time-frame of one hour. Parallel incidents of sound, text, and action connecting the cities of New York, Ankara, Madaba, Tokyo, Caracas, Tehran, Hong Kong, Berlin, Los Angeles, Brussels, Kabul, Palestine, and Dakar.
An endless continuous circle of life, fluctuating between utopia and war; no one knows any of these sequels.Through observing, the audience perceives the results of war and conflict.
SML: Zooma - Dead End is the latest chapter of Dead End, The School of Hard Knocks (2020-2023) an ongoing multi-disciplinary performance series conceived, created and performed by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks. Assembling a mosaic of films, dance, music, visual art, and narratives, Chuma continues a lifetime investigation of ideas regarding national security, perceived dangers within borders, immigration, and war.
About the Artists
Cutting-edge choreographer-director-instigator-movement-explorer-performer, Yoshiko Chuma continues a lifetime obsession with the mythology of danger. Landing in New York in 1976, Chuma settled in lower downtown Manhattan, labelled as a dangerous place to be at the time. Devoid of the culture and inflation you see before you now, Yoshiko managed to begin her career in lower Manhattan, spanning an impressive 40 year career to date. Creating over 100 productions, including company works, commissions and site-specific events, Chuma is constantly challenging the notion of performance for both audience and participants. Crossing physical and metaphorical borders along the way, quite literally, Chuma has placed herself in danger’s way for the sake of art.She has crossed the border between East and Central Europe in the earlier 80ʼ to 90ʼ crossed the border to Palestine for over 10 years since 2005, the border between Albania and Kosovo in 2007, the border to Afghanistan in 2014, the border to Maracaibo, Venezuela in 2014 among many more.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. We are a creative home to artists and audiences from around the world, and a dynamic hub for risk-taking new performance. A vital part of New York City’s cultural fabric, La MaMa has a worldwide reputation for producing theatre, dance, music, and performance art that defies form and embraces all identities.Founded in 1961 by theatre legend Ellen Stewart, La MaMa is the only original Off-Off-Broadway venue still in operation. Ellen established La MaMa as a haven for underrepresented artists to experiment with new work, without the pressures of commercial success. Today, we maintain an environment of uncensored creative freedom, where artists of all backgrounds and identities can develop work that pushes the boundaries of what is possible onstage.