in Cha Hong has become known for her dark, spare dance journeys into the soul. In Ms. Hong's masterly and poignant new "Woman Laughing," this 60-year-old Korean choreographer and performer travels through her own life. Not only does this trip end in laughter, but Ms. Hong is newly mellow company as well.

"The Woman Laughing," which opened on Thursday night at La MaMa E.T.C., is a matter of short, slowly traveled paths from one simple prop to another on a darkish stage with a thick-rooted tree at the back. There is a metaphoric quality to the sturdiness of the little tree and the way it glows at times. But "The Woman Laughing" has an intriguingly plain-spoken quality as a whole, despite its seamless dipping back and forth in time.

The five central props — a lotus root, skulls, a swing, a hand mirror and a bed — are simply what they are. They define a moment in real time rather than the past and allow the viewer to meet the artist halfway in her world.

What might be an adventurous youthful journey is succeeded by the suggestion of a meditative look back on first experiences of death. Memory persists. Seated on a swing, Ms. Hong slips back a little into childhood. In one of the work's most haunting passages, she looks for long moments into the mirror, as if alone on a dark and windy mountaintop.

Restless sleep on a wooden bed follows. And then the laughter. There is despair here, but also a childlike release. Snow falls, and Ms. Hong opens her mouth to catch it. Light fades. She has completed her journey.

Ms. Hong is an authoritative performer who works with inevitable- seeming props and inspired collaborators, including the musician Young-Ah Choi, the set designer Ji- yang Kim and the costume designer Stacy Dawson. Masaru Soga created the lighting and tape collage. The hourlong piece will be repeated through Sundayat 74A East Fourth Street, East Village.