THEATERLAB PRESENTS
FINISHED UNFINISHED SYMPHONY
Concept, direction and compositions by Yoshiko Chuma
The School of Hard Knocks presents “Finished Unfinished Symphony,” marking the 25th anniversary of “Unfinished Symphony: Nagoya Suite,” first performed on December 7, 2000.
Dancer and choreographer Kasumi Adachi will be in New York and appears as the evening’s special guest. She performed in New York, Ireland, Bosnia, Estonia, and Upstate New York from 1998–2002, and produced several School of Hard Knocks projects in Morioka and Tokyo.
Cast: Wendy Perron, Kathy Ray, Sarah Skaggs, Timothy Buckley, Jodi Melnick, Kasumi Adachi , Miriam Parker, Emily Pope, Coco Karol, Angelina Laguna, and Deniz E. Sancak
Photographer: Jason Llaguno
Stage Manager: Booth McGowan
Speech: nicky paraiso
Vibrant sound design with authentic voices : Jacob Burckhardt
Finished Unfinished Symphony
This performance is an initial sketch for the future project “Unfinished Symphony,” scheduled for 2028 to 2029 and envisioned for locations including Kanazawa, Akita, Kamakura, Nagoya, Tokyo, and possibly Jordan, Bangkok, and Istanbul.
In 2000, Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks presented “Unfinished Symphony: Nagoya Suite” at the Aichi Arts Center. Featuring approximately 200 citizen performers alongside world-renowned artists, it was highly acclaimed as a new model of “co-creation” through performing arts.
In 2025, marking its 25th anniversary, we embark on a new creative journey titled “Finished Unfinished Symphony ” This project seeks to explore, through performing arts, the intersections of people, cultures, and eras, centered on the fundamental question of “what is completion?” without overlooking any events occurring on this planet.
The “Unfinished Symphony” symbolizes the endless process of creation—life itself. By delving into the memories and cultures of regions both within Japan and abroad, the next generation of young people will collaborate with artists from Japan and around the world to create a “living archive” through the body, music, video, and words.
Centered around dancer Kasumi Adachi, who shares ties with Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks celebrating their 45th anniversary in 2025, dancers, musicians, video artists, thinkers, and creators from diverse fields will meet across borders and generations. They will broadcast to the world the creative process born in the space between concept and structure, the individual and the collective.
PERFORMANCES
Sunday, December 7 | 5:00pm-8:00pm
TICKETS
General Admission : $20.00 ($22.00 with fees)
For any questions, please contact ticketing@theaterlabnyc.com
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR
MEET THE ARTISTS
Cutting-edge choreographer, director, instigator, movement explorer, and performer Yoshiko Chuma continues a lifetime obsession with the mythology of danger. Landing in New York in 1976, Chuma settled in lower Manhattan, then labeled a dangerous place. Devoid of the culture and inflation you see now, Yoshiko has been spanning an impressive 45-year career to date. Creating over hundreds of productions, including company works and site-specific events, Chuma constantly challenges the notion of performance for both audience and participants. Crossing physical and metaphorical borders, 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 early 1980s to 90s, the border to Palestine for over 20 years since 2005, the border between Albania and Kosovo in 2007, the border to Afghanistan in 2014, and the border to Maracaibo, Venezuela in 2014. Forbidden realms for some but centers of creation for Chuma, these visits challenge preconceived ideas of danger and have brought about some of the most beautiful experiences. Chuma intentionally confuses documentation with history, recreating segments from her documented events. Making art is not her intention at all. Her performances not only stand apart from the genealogy of dance but also resist definition and confound interpretation – endless peripheral borders.
COVID-19 policy: In guidance with the city and state COVID-19 policies, we will no longer be requiring masks, but strongly recommend them.