In the surrealist, avante-garde spirit of Japanese Butoh Dance, two consummate physical theatre artists and founding members of The Ume Group, Jordan Rosin (USA) and Yokko (USA/Japan) present a moving collage of ritual movement, monologue, clowning, and found object puppetry exploring time, generation, mortality, and parenthood, all set to a soundtrack of experimental music and community interviews mixed through machine learning body interfaces by performance artist and composer Kite (Oglála Lakȟóta). Thematically, PASSING draws inspiration from the creators’ own histories of “passing:” Yokko’s experience of their mothers’ passing, the passing of know-how from Jordan to their new child.
PASSING is a community-driven project created with and for parents, teachers, immigrants, queer folx, people who have lost family and/or who are confronting the passage of time.
The Ume Group’s PASSING is a recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts National Theatre Project Artist Development Award.
Content Advisory:This production contains references to pregnancy, childbirth, death and dying, including loss of a parent, maternal death, and end-of-life care.
Work-in-Progress Showing in NYC
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 7:30pm
Location: Grace & St. Paul’s Church, 123 West 71st Street, New York City, NY 10023
Tickets: FREE
An Equity Approved Showcase
Creative Team
Co-created and performed by Jordan Rosin* & Yokko*
Co-Directors / Co-Choreographers｜Jordan Rosin & Yokko
Composer | Kite
Lighting Design｜ Chase Kniffen
Technical Director | Saki Kawamura
Dramaturg | Jacquelyn Shannon
Stage Manager | Jamie Chen
Production Assistant | Sydney Caprio
RenGyoSoh Intern / Lab Assistant / Additional Sound Editing | Sumire Muratsu
*These Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Get Involved
1) Apply to be interviewed as a part of the project or nominate someone you admire,
2) Support the work with a donation, (now tax-deductible thanks to our partnership with Coin & Ghost theater in Los Angeles!),
3) for those in New York City – mark your calendars to attend the free work-in-progress showing on November 16 at 7:30 pm.
Community Interviewing
PASSING is a community-driven project created with and for parents, queer folx, people who have lost family and/or who are confronting the passage of time. We’re looking for people to interview as a part of this project!
About our Interview Process
Members of our team will engage interviewees in heartfelt conversations about time, generation, mortality, parenthood, and loss. We’ll ask for personal stories, advice, as well as myths about each topic which interviewees think deserve interrogation. In facilitating interviews, we’ll employ trauma-informed and consent-based techniques from our training in Playback Theatre, Emergent Strategy, yoga, and theatrical intimacy. Interviewees will have an opportunity to view a transcript of their recorded interview and redact any portions they would prefer not be shared. The recorded interviews will then be used in whole or part as a backdrop for our performance, paired with movement and sounds which reinforce or shed new light on the stories. Some clips may be remixed through our composer, Kite’s machine learning body interfaces to create abstract and surreal soundscapes to disrupt audience’s expectations and facilitate deeper levels of connection and unlearning. To read more about Kite’s work, click here. The Producers agree not to use the interviews to train any Large Language Models (LLM) or other publicly available artificial intelligences.
Compensation
A small number of $25 honorariums are available to interviewees.
Creative Team Biographies
Jordan Rosin (they/them+) Producer, Co-Creator, Co-Director, Performer
Jordan Rosin (they/them+) is a physical theatre artist & movement/intimacy director, specializing in Butoh. Co-founder/ co-artistic director of The Ume Group. Directing/Choreography: VOICES FROM THE STONE; LYSISTRATA PROJECT; DREAM DANCES(Off-Off Broadway) and BUTOH MEDEA (International Tour). Acting: Dell’Arte Players’ AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (West Coast Tour). They have been on faculty at Virginia Tech and Dell’Arte Int’l. BFA Syracuse U; MFA in Physical Theatre, Dell’Arte International. www.jordanrosin.net
Yokko (she/he/they) Co-Creator, Co-Director, Performer
Yokko (she/he/they) is an actor, Butoh theatre artist from Japan. She has won “Best One-Woman Show,” “Best Choreography”, “Best Physical Theatre”, “Best Actress” for BUTOH MEDEA in festivals such as United Solo NYC at Theatre Row (2014 & 2015) & Hollywood Fringe (2018). BUTOH MEDEA appeared in the Edinburgh Fringe, winning a nomination for the “Asian Arts Awards.” It has toured the US and Europe (Poland, UK, Italy, Turkey, Germany and Czech Republic) since 2015. MFA Actors Studio Drama School. www.yokko-online.com
Kite (she/her) Composer
Kite (Dr. Suzanne Kite) (she/her) is an award winning Oglála Lakȟóta performance artist, visual artist, composer and academic, known for her sound and video performance with her machine learning hair-braid interface. Kite’s practice explores contemporary Lakota ontology through research-creation, computational media, and performance. Kite often works in collaboration with family and community members. Her interdisciplinary practice spans sound, video, performances, instrument building, wearable artwork, poetry, books, interactive installations, and more.