Press Release on February 25, 2008


Ms. Yoshiko Chuma, New York-based Japanese choreographer, wraps up a three day workshop in Amman

Quick glance at the event
Ms. Yoshiko Chuma, a New York-based Japanese director and choreographer, concluded a three-day workshop under the title of “Discover Movement from the Ordinary” which was organized at the Haya Cultural Center in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan in Jordan, from 23 to 25 February 2008. As the workshop was open to anybody, regardless of their background in movement, diversified participants such as dancers, actors, artists, teenage students and teachers joined it and discovered a “physical monologue” in simple and familiar gestures and actions of their body.

The artistic director was born in Osaka, Japan and has lived in the United States since 1978. Chuma has created more than 45 full-length company works, commissions and site-specific events for venues across the world, constantly challenging the notion of performing for both audience and participant. She has engaged in two performing companies as the artistic director & choreographer, namely the School of Hard Knocks, USA and Daghdha Dance Company, Ireland.

Saying she is not representing either Japan or America, though she also mentioned she would talk about Japanese culture as one of unique cultures in the world. Her field of creative work hasn’t been limited in Japan or the U.S., but also in other Asian countries, Eastern and Western Europe, and Russia.

Having accomplished successful stages of her ongoing cross-cultural and borderless project “A page out of order” which was performed in India, Macedonia, Cambodia, New York and Japan, the Japanese director has decided to extend it to the Middle East. To this end, she visited various cultural institutions in Amman during her stay so as to exchange views with Jordanian artists to shape a collaboration work with them. Chuma also paid a call on H.E. Mr. Jereyes Samawi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, and H.E. Mr. Shigenobu Kato, Ambassador of Japan to Jordan, to discuss the project.

For further inquiries | Back to top