Midan: Amman Dance Lab
a figurative meeting ground for dance in Amman
The School of Hard Knocks (SOHK) Projects
Since 2007, Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks
has collaborated with Midan: Amman Dance Lab on 9 major productions,
with Ryuji Yamaguchi as creative producer:
Living Room Project: 200 New Faces (2009) Amman, Petra, Madaba, Zarqa
Hold the Clock: Jordan (2010) Amman
Midan: Gathering Space (2010) Amman, Zarqa, Madaba, Wadi Rum
6 Seconds in Ramallah (2011) Amman, Ramallah
Documentation #2 and #3 (2012) Amman, Ramallah
Love Story Palestine (2012) New York
Documentation: π=3.14 (2012) Tokyo
My Dairy: Secret Journey to Amman (2020) Amman, Madaba
Secret Journey - Sadeem (2022) Amman
Yoshiko Chuma (conceptual artist, choreographer/artistic director of SOHK) has been a firebrand in the post-modern dance scene of New York City since the 1980s, has been consistently producing thought-provoking work that is neither dance nor theater nor film nor any other pre-determined category. She is an artist on her own journey. A path that has taken her to over 40 “out of the way” countries and collected over 2000 artists, thinkers and collaborators of every genre since establishing her company The School of Hard Knocks in New York City in 1980.
Living Room Project: Jordan (2009)
Performers visit 9 family homes in Amman, Zarqa, and Petra to experience diyafa, Jordan's proud tradition of hospitality. Hosts and guests share home cooked food while playing their roles as hosts and guests. The family living space is transformed into a place for performance.
Concept, Design, and Direction: Yoshiko Chuma
Creative Producer: Ryuji Yamaguchi
Video Director: Sarah Kaskas
Artists: Hiromu Motonaga, Rie Ono, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Shireen Abukhader, Sizzle Ohtaka, Yoshiko Chuma
Supported by: Japan Foundation, King's Academy, Midan - Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
Hold the Clock: Jordan (2010)
Presented by: Amman Contemporary Dance Festival
Concept, Design, and Direction: Yoshiko Chuma
Producer: Ryuji Yamaguchi and Midan: Amman Dance Lab
Artists: Hiroki Ohishi, Jana Zeineddine, Kotaro Inoue, Noora Baker, Riyad Ghallab, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Sami Khoury, Sharaf Darzaid, Tatsuya Sano, Yoshiko Chuma, Yousef Kawar, Yuko Mitsuishi, Yuya Onishi, performers from National Center of Culture and Arts and King’s Academy
Supported by: National Center for Culture and Arts, King's Academy, Midan - Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
Midan: Gathering Space (2012)
Expanding on Living Room Project (2009), performers visit larger gathering spaces to interact with the audience in a site-specific performance. 7 different locations were covered including Al Balad Theater.
Concept and Design: Yoshiko Chuma
Creative Producer: Ryuji Yamaguchi
Artists: Kotarou Inoue, Junpei Katsumi, Yuko Mitsuishi, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Sizzle Ohtaka, Yoshiko Chuma, Ban Majali, Noora Baker, Laila Boukhari, Yuya Onishi, Saeko Baba, Matsunori Ushida, Rie Ono, Hugh Burkhardt, Mohammad Amin, Rand Abdul Nour, Bonnie Sue Stein, Waleed Laham
Collaborating organizations: King's Academy, Al Balad Theater, Hamzet Wasel, National Center fo Culture and Arts, Ruwwad, Embassy of Japan in Jordan, El Funoun Dance Troupe
Supported by: Japan Foundation, ROOT CULTURE, King's Academy, Midan-Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
6 Seconds in Ramallah (2011)
Presented by Amman Contemporary Dance Festival and Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival
Concept, Design, and Direction:: Yoshiko Chuma
Assistant Directors: Noora Baker, Ryuji Yamaguchi
Supported by: Japan Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Fund, Root Culture, El-Funoun Dance Troupe, King's Academy, Midan - Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
Documentation #2 and #3
Presented at Royal Film Commission (Jordan) and The A.M. Qattan Foundation (Palestine)
Concept, Design, and Direction by Yoshiko Chuma
Artists: Ryuji Yamaguchi, Miriam Parker, Yoshiko Chuma, Sari Husseini, Anas Abuoun
Supported by: The A.M. Qattan Foundation, ROOT CULTURE, King's Academy, Midan - Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
Love Story, Palestine (2012)
Presented at La MaMa ETC (New York)
Concept, Design, and Direction: Yoshiko Chuma
Featuring members of El-Funoun Dance Troupe of Palestine: Anas Abu Oun, Sari Husseini
Dance by: Miriam Parker, Saori Tsukada, Tatyana Tenenbaum, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Chuma
Music by: Aska Kaneko, Robert Black, Sizzle Ohtaka
'Dabke' Choreography by El-Funoun Dance Troupe
Pianists: Matthew Shipp, Senri Oe, Kathleen Supove, Dave Malloy, Anthony Coleman
Supported by: New York State Council for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts
In association with: ROOT CULTURE, Midan-Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
Documentation: π=3.14....
Presented by KEN (Tokyo, Japan)
Concept and Direction: Yoshiko Chuma
Featured Performer: Noora Baker of El-Funoun Dance Troupe
Artists: Koichi Makigami, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Nobuko Higuchi, Yuko Mitsuishi, Sizzle Ohtaka, Hiroki Ohishi
Supported by: ROOT CULTURE, Tailuck, Midan: Amman Dance Lab, GOH Productions
My Diary: Secret Journey to Amman (2020)
Twenty chapters cross over within the frame of one hour. Musicians, dancers, and film editors interact, but not directly—a parallel to incidents of sound, text and action, and a metaphor for endless continuous circles of life that fluctuate between utopia and war. While observing, the audience will perceive the results of war: tipping utopia.
Presented by: Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, King’s Academy
Concept Design, Installation, and Direction: Yoshiko Chuma and Ryuji Yamaguchi
Film editors: Agnė Auželytė, Majd Manaa, Ursula Marlee H. Marcussen
Music Soundtrack: Jason Kao Hwang
Dance Artists: Adam Wawi, Alaeddin Rahmeh, Anas AlQatawe, Duanduan Lin, Emran Al-Amareen, Hala AlDur, Hanae Yoshida, Haneen Shraim, Mahmoud Shraim, Mera Diab, Noor AlJamal, Raneem Nahhas, Ryuji Yamaguchi, Salleh Belagon, Teera AlTal, Valeria Dimitrova, Yanlin Li, Yiran Zhao, Zaid AlJamal, Ziqi Yu
Stage Managers: Khalid Siraj, Taha Noui Mehidi, Yiran Zhao
Assistant to Stage Managers: Zaid AlZoubi
Pianist: Hani Alkarrain
Assistant to Director: Emran AlAmareen
PR & Communication Director: Ruba Hattar
Supported by: King’s Academy, Midan—Amman Dance Lab,