Dance Base Yokohama (DaBY) ’s 2026 DaBY Open Call Residency Program is an initiative that provides support in the form of studio space, production funds, and administrative assistance so that artists can devote time to their creative process.

Kyle Yamada and Yoei Noda, who were selected for this program, will be in residence at DaBY from Thursday, November 19, 2026, through Sunday, December 13, 2026, toconduct research on “bear damage” and anti-foreigner sentiment, and work on the production of *A RIGHT TO ARM BEARS*. During their residency, they will hold a workshop where participants explore the city to create a book, as well as a showing to present works in progress.

• Showings (December 13)
• Workshops (November 21, 28, and December 5)

◆Outline

They will conduct research on “bear-related damage”—an issue causing concern across Japan—and on anti-foreigner sentiment. Kyle Yamada and Yoei Noda are both artists with backgrounds outside Japan, and they have collaborated from the perspective of experiencing an “absence” of identity across multiple places and languages.During this residency, as part of the research project “A CALL TO BEAR ARMS,” they will create “A RIGHT TO ARM BEARS,” a performance that examines “bear damage” from the perspective of bears.By introducing “bears” into the binary opposition of “Japanese/foreigner,” they aim to disrupt the boundaries of exclusion. They view the very process of accumulating these ideas through various media as a performance in itself, thereby archiving “our bodies, which are also bears (the Other).”

◆ Showing

We will present *A RIGHT TO ARM BEARS – Work In Progress*, a piece I will create during my residency. There will also be a talk centered around a Q&A session with the audience.

▪︎Participation Fee:
Free

▪︎Date and Time:
Sunday, December 13, 2026, 5:00 PM

▪︎Running Time
Approx. 60 minutes (estimated)
Includes a discussion centered on a Q&A session with the audience.

▪︎Registration: Please register via Peatix at

To use DaBY, you must register for DaBY Members. If you haven’t registered yet, please sign up for DaBY Members.

◆Workshop

Let’s Hit the Streets Without Putting Down Our Calligraphy: Yokohama Bear Walk!

Workshop: Explore the City and Create a Book

▪︎Date and Time
November 21 (Sat), November 28 (Sat), and December 5 (Sat), 2026
1:00 PM–4:00 PM each day

▪︎Participation Fee
Free; reservations required

▪︎Eligibility
Open to everyone

The workshop will be conducted primarily in Japanese. Support in English and Chinese is also available.

*You may attend individual sessions.
*However, Session 3 is open only to those who have attended either Session 1 or Session 2.

▪︎Registration

Advance registration is required. Please register using the registration form.

To register by email, please send your name, the date and time of the session, the number of participants, and the ages of the participants to allergen.theatre@gmail.comまで.

To use DaBY, you must be registered as a DaBY Member. If you are not yet registered, please sign up for DaBY Members.

▪︎Content

Don’t you think there are no bears in this city?
Why not take a walk through Yokohama with some artists and try your hand at creating a book?

Playwright and translator Kyle Yamada and dancer and designer Yoei Noda are creating a dance piece centered on the theme of “bears” at Dance Base Yokohama, located right near Bashamichi Station.
Bears have bodies far stronger than humans’ and live with senses different from our own. If you were a bear, how would this city feel to you? The two are searching for inspiration for their dance by imagining themselves as bears and considering things we don’t usually think of as bears as if they were bears.

Yokohama is home to people from diverse backgrounds. Even within the same city, there may be sights you’ve overlooked or ways of life you’re unaware of.

In this workshop, you’ll explore your familiar city with two others from a slightly different perspective. You’ll take photos and record sounds. By imagining bodies and senses different from your own, you’ll share your individual discoveries and work together to create a book.

Session 1: “Walking Through Yokohama Through the Eyes of a Bear”

Saturday, November 21, 2026, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Even with poor eyesight, their sense of smell is exceptional. They’re usually 80 centimeters tall, but when they stand on their hind legs, they’re 2 meters tall!
What would you see if you walked through the city with a bear’s body and senses? Let’s use our imaginations and take a stroll through the city together.

2nd “More of a Bear, I’d Say”

Saturday, November 28, 2026, 1:00 PM–4:00 PM

The mug right in front of you. A “Stop” sign. The noren hanging over the door of a soba shop… If we were to categorize everything in this world into “bears” and “non-bears,” aren’t there actually things hidden around town that you’d want to classify as “bears”?
“This might be a bear!” “Personally, I think it’s a bear!” We’re heading out to look for things like that.

The 3rd “Let’s Make a Book About Bears”

Saturday, December 5, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Using the photos and sounds we collected during the first and second workshops, we’ll work together to create a book.

Organized by: Antigen Theater
Produced by: Haruhi Ishizuka
Design: Yoei Noda
Funding and Residency Support: Dance Base Yokohama
Funding: Yokohama City Regional Culture Support Program, Yokohama Art Site 2026

◆Production Credits

Concept, Direction, and Performance: Kyle Yamada & Yoei Noda
Funding and Residency Support: Dance Base Yokohama

◆Venue

Dance Base Yokohama, 3rd Floor
5-57-2 Kitanaka-dori, Naka Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, KITANAKA BRICK&WHITE BRICK North, 3rd Floor

Minatomirai Line, Bashamichi Station, Exit 2a—directly connected to “Yokohama Kitanaka Knot”
Directions to the Venue

[Venue Facilities and Accessibility]
The venue is wheelchair accessible.

• All-Gender Restrooms: There is an all-gender restroom on the 3rd floor that is open to everyone.
• Accessible Restroom: There is an accessible restroom next to the supermarket across from the venue that is wheelchair-accessible.

We also provide support for attendees who use wheelchairs or require accessibility services. If you need assistance, please contact contact@dancebase.yokohamaまでご相談ください. If you will be attending in a wheelchair, please let us know in advance when you register.

◆Profile

Photo by Manami Uetake

Kyle Yamada Playwright, dramaturg, and translator. In recent years, he has been engaged in creative work that stems from research into the complexly intertwined power dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region.His work is characterized by methods that place the audience itself within these overlapping power dynamics—through metatheatrical approaches, visual media, and audience-participation mechanisms—thereby fostering dialogue and introspection. He has collaborated extensively with artists in the field of dance, including Jeunesse White and Reina Kimura. She will participate in the SPAC × Japan Foundation “BIOTOPE—Camp for Playwrights” starting in 2026. She was selected for the 2026 Japan Foundation Asia Arts and Culture Fellowship.

Yoei Noda Born in Nagasaki, raised in Hiroshima. Completed the Choreographer Course at “Domestic Dance Study Abroad @ Kobe.” Inspired by her interest in Taiwan, where her roots lie, she became fascinated by the political power dynamics surrounding language as they relate to the individual. In her recent creative work, she employs multiple languages she is currently learning and experiments with playing with physical “mistranslations.”In 2018, she formed “Jeunesse White” with dancer Ako Katsura. Since 2023, she has participated in the performance project “1(Forget)LDK” with director and playwright Kyle Yamada, and has presented solo performances in Kyoto, Tokyo, Kobe, Taipei, and Montreal.

◆Credits

Organized by: Kyle Yamada & Yoei Noda, Dance Base Yokohama