Shared Program: Chris Yon & Taryn Griggs and Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks
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Yoggs Family Newsletter (NY Edition) by Chris Yon & Taryn Griggs
Extreme Classics in the School of Hard Knocks by Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks (Dennis O’Connor and Dane Terry)
YOGGS FAMILY NEWSLETTER (2014–present) is a dance and sound collage created and performed by Taryn Griggs and Chris Yon, narrated by their daughter Bea Yon.
Taryn Griggs and Chris Yon create original dance works that are deadpan slapstick, understated melodrama, autobiographical science fiction, cubist vaudeville, asymmetrically consonant explorations of magic and virtuosity in everyday movement. For the last few years, their daughter Bea Yon has joined their practice and they work under the moniker, The Yoggs. The Yoggs are a family trio ensemble making autobiographical sound and dance collages. Their “Yoggs Family Newsletter” is about the ephemerality of parenthood and childhood. How they as a family create memories and how they perform memories inscribed on their bodies. Their newsletter is a growing collection of dances that addresses how they capture experiences and attach significance to when and where they dance together and who they meet along the way as part of their family story.
Chris and Taryn are School of Hard Knocks alums. They first performed at La MaMa in Yoshiko Chuma's show, "Agit Props" with a set by Tom Lee in the Club in 2002. They are excited to reunite and share a show with Yoshiko back in The Club at La MaMa 22 years later.
Four remarkable artists join forces in Extreme Classics in the School of Hard Knocks: choreographers/dancers Yoshiko Chuma and Dennis O’Connor, accompanied by Dane Terry on piano. Costumes by Gabriel Berry. This is extreme avant-garde for extreme classics by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks.
Photos of Chris Yon and Taryn Griggs by Zoe Litaker
Photo of Yoshiko Chuma by Julie Lemberger
Concept and Composition by Yoshiko Chuma
Dancer: Dennis O’Connor and Yoshiko Chuma
Accompanist Dane Terry on piano
Costume: Gabriel Berry
Yoshiko Chuma (conceptual artist, choreographer/artistic director of The School ofHard Knocks) 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 predetermined 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 TheSchool of Hard Knocks in New York City in 1980.
Dennis O'Connor graduated from SUNY Purchase & joined the Merce Cunningham company. After leaving the company he worked with Irene Hultman, Joseph Lennon & Ann Papoulis. He presented work at the Gas Station, The World, Martha @ Mother, PS 122, St. Mark's Church and the Kitchen. He was choreographer in residence at Remote Control Productions Amsterdam/ Michel Laub from 1997 - 2002. He was honored to be on the creative team for Trisha Brown's final opera, Salvatore Sciarrino's DaGelo a Gelo produced at the Paris Opera. He later worked with Regine Chopinot/Ballet Atlantique for "Cornucopia" and with Jodi Melnick Dance.Currently, he is living in the beautiful Catskills, upstate New York and recently assisted Ann Papoulis on "Seine Musings" in Paris. This is his second project with Yoshiko Chuma & the School of Hard Knocks.
Dane Terry is a multimedia storyteller, composer and visual artist. As a performer of his own work he has performed all over North America, Europe and Asia. Dane was the writer, composer and lead performer of the musical fiction podcast miniseries Dreamboy(Night Vale Presents 2018). Works for stage include: Jupiter's Lifeless Moons (PSNY 2018) and Bird In The House (La MaMa 2015, Under The Radar Festival 2016). Dane was the 2016 recipient of the Ethyl Eichelberger Award from PSNY. As a visual artist he has exhibited in galleries in NYC and Ohio and maintains a robust output online.
Gabriel Berry designs costumes for theater, dance and opera. Specializing in the creation of new work, she has designed premieres of the works of artists including John Adams, Samuel Beckett, Charles Ludlam, Ann Bogart, Caryl Churchill, Lucinda Childs, Christopher Durang, Ethyl Eichelberger, Richard Foreman, The Five Lesbian Brothers, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Lameece Isaaq, Nick Jones, Craig Lukas, Mabou Mines, Naomi Wallace, Kia Corthran, Will Power, Marcus Gardley, Scott Z. Burns, Meredith Monk, Chuck Mee, Tony Kushner, Peter Sellars, Phillip Glass, Taylor Mac, Harold Pinter, Reinaldo Povod, Mabou Mines, Tennessee Williams, Brandon Jacob Jenkins and Yoshiko Chuma and The school of hard knocks. Notable honors include OBIE, Bessie andLucille Lortel awards and a silver medal from the Prague Quadrennial for her contribution to experimental Theater.
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival
La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival continues to support La MaMa’s commitment to presenting diverse performance styles that challenge audience’s perception of dance by featuring performance/installations, experimental film screenings & public symposiums which address dance artists’ engagement with the current political climate, as well as honoring diasporic histories and legacy, ancestral inspirations and inter-generational dialogue.