King’s Academy hosted a dance performance in the Gallery on January 18 titled Endless Peripheral Border, in which around 50 students and faculty members participated alongside professional musicians and dancers from Amman. The performance was conceptualized and took place under the direction of internationally acclaimed New York-based artist Yoshiko Chuma, and was co-directed by King’s Academy’s dance program coordinator Ryuji Yamaguchi.

A second performance of Endless Peripheral Border took place two days later in Amman, produced with Midan Dance Lab, at which Yamaguchi and King’s student Kenzy AlDaher ’23 performed alongside 20 professional musicians and dancers at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts.

In what can be described as a whirlwind of an experience, the Endless Peripheral Border performance was a visualization of the theme of borders and their impact, with dancers performing together in “a choreographed chaos that displays the hopes and despair that our world faces today.”

Gathered in front of the Hess Family Dining Hall, where the performance at King’s Academy started out, some 150 audience members witnessed a spectacle of 50 performers waving large colorful bags to create dynamic movements in the air, accompanied by two professional vocalists and an oud player. The audience, led by the performers, was then taken on a long promenade across campus, eventually arriving at the Gallery, where the second part of the performance took place.

“Borders — physical or imaginary — separate the experiences between those on the inside, those on the outside, and those who may travel between them,” explained Chuma about the performance’s concept, adding that she uses many props in her creations. “For example, the performers used red trays as an image to deliver stories — perhaps to deliver images of war, or each person’s secret journey.”

Commenting on the audience’s positive reaction to the performance, Yamaguchi said: “It was refreshing for the audience to see us challenge conventional boundaries of performances. With the audience traveling through the campus, and by having the audience witness up-close performances by a diverse cast of dancers representing different styles such as contemporary, hip-hop and breakdance, as well as vocalists and musicians.”

Endless Peripheral Border is the latest production of Chuma and Yamaguchi in Jordan — they have previously created some 10 productions in Jordan and Palestine addressing themes of borders, conflicts, identity and stories. This production also marks 15 years of collaboration between King’s Academy and Chuma, who has been hosting dance workshops for King’s students since 2007.