A Festival of Korean Dance receives its Scottish premiere as it returns to London for a seventh year

With shows that take in the joys of soaring, that explore the impact of social media, and that focus on presenting traditional Asian values and stories in contemporary ways, A Festival of Korean Dance will return to The Place for its seventh year, and for the first time will tour to Scotland. In addition to performing at Tramway, Glasgow, Korean Cultural Centre UK will continue its partnership with The Lowry, and are delighted to bring the Festival to Pavilion Dance South East and Dance City, Newcastle with the support of the Korea Arts Management Service. This year, audience favourite Sung Im Her will once again present new work, and Ae-Soon Ahn, former Artistic Director of Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) will be making her UK debut.

Opening the festival at Tramway (16 May) before touring to Dance City (18 May), The Place (22 May) and Pavilion Dance South West (24 May), Kontemporary Korea is a double bill of Flight by Melancholy Dance Company who make their Festival debut, and Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday (TiNTiY) by audience favourite Sung Im Her, who returns following last year’s Everything Falls Dramatic and 2021’s W.A.Y (re-work). Flight aims to express the human desire to soar towards goals through leaps and falls in a virtuosic duet, and in TiNTiY Sung Im Her looks at the impact of (social) media: the oversharing, over-saturation, the ‘entertaining content’, the conspiracy theories, confusion and anxiety. Three dancers perform to a club-like soundtrack composed by music duo Husk Husk.

Next at The Place (25 May), Burnt Offering is from 99Artcompany, a company focused on expressing the uniqueness of Korean tradition through contemporary stories. Burnt Offering invites us to consider what new rituals we need, what we might pray for, and how we can draw on the traditions of the past. Dancers are caught up in repetitive daily routines, their life burning away without meaning, but when they look up, clouds of incense float into the air, and a dance commences which burns with a noble spirit. Burnt Offering won the Best Production award at the 2nd Seoul Arts Awards hosted by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Closing the festival with performances at The Place (31 May) and Lowry (4 – 5 June), Cheok by Ae-Soon Ahn uses the Korean word, which is a traditional Asian standard of measurement meaning ‘span of the hand’, to explore personal and individual measurement. Six dancers perform in a rich and sensuous landscape of light, video, sound, and movement, to create new connections that rediscover traditional Asian values. Ae-Soon Ahn was formerly the Artistic Director of Korea’s premier company Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, and was the first Korean choreographer invited to choreograph at Chaillot National Theater in France and Liège Theater in Belgium.

Christina Elliot, Head of Programming and Producing at The Place, said “We’re delighted to be collaborating with our friends at Korean Cultural Centre UK, Korea Arts Management Service, Asia Culture Center Foundation, Tramway, Dance City, Pavilion Dance South West and The Lowry, to present what is now a nationwide celebration of Korean dance. We’re particularly pleased to be welcoming our co-commission with Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Sung Im Her’s Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday, to London, following its premiere in Seoul last year, and to be hosting revered choreographer Ae-Soon Ahn’s first performances in the UK, with her monumental work Cheok. Across the programme, audiences will discover visionary artists finding sublime ways to interpret modern life – we hope you’ll join us.”

Jaeyeon Park, Senior Producer at the Korean Cultural Centre UK, said “We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our esteemed Korean dance festival to Glasgow, Newcastle, Bournemouth, and Manchester. This year, we're collaborating with the renowned Tramway, Dance City, Pavilion Dance South West, and The Lowry. Get ready for a captivating tour featuring a double bill: Sung Im Her's latest work and Cheolin Jeong’s Flight. Making her London debut will be Ae-Soon Ahn with Cheok - this profound piece offers a unique perspective on the Korean contemporary dance scene, adding another compelling dimension to the program.

The Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) said, "We're pleased to introduce outstanding Korean artists Ahn Ae-soon, Melancholy Dance Company, 99Artcompany, and Sung Im Her, who is an associate artist of the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF). Through partnerships with various theaters across the UK, we hope that more British audiences can experience Korean artists and their works."

A Festival of Korean Dance was established in 2018 as part of the Korea/UK Season. Since 2019, it has been produced in a partnership between The Place, the Korean Cultural Centre, and the Korea Arts Management Service to introduce London audiences to the exciting contemporary dance scene in Korea. The growing popularity of the festival has coincided with the booming global success of the cultural phenomenon known as Hallyu – the wave of Korean pop culture. Over the span of six remarkable years, the festival has proudly welcomed the participation of 21 esteemed companies, among them the prestigious Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, Art Project BORA, Modern Table, and Collective A. Together, they have presented a total of 21 dance pieces, accompanied by an impressive selection of 12 evocative dance films and documentaries.

Listings information

Tramway, Glasgow www.tramway.org | 0845 330 3501

25 Albert Dr, Glasgow G41 2PE

Dance City, Newcastle www.dancecity.co.uk | 0191 261 0505

Temple St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4BR

The Place, London www.theplace.org.uk | 020 7121 1100

The Place, 17 Duke’s Rd, London, WC1H 9PY

Pavilion Dance South West www.pdsw.ork.uk | 01202 203630

Bournemouth BH1 2BU

The Lowry, Salford www.thelowry.com | 0843 208 6010

Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, Manchester, Greater Manchester M50 3AZ

Kontemporary Korea: A Double Bill of K:Dance: Flight and Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday

16 May Tramway, 7.30pm, £20/£15/£10 Pay what you can

18 May Dance City, 7.30pm, £18 (£14.50 concs)

22 May The Place, 7.30pm, £20 (£16 concs)

24 May Pavilion Dance South West, 7.30pm, £15 (£12 - £6 concs)

Tomorrowisnowtodayisyesterday (TiNTiY) by Sung Im Her

Sung Im Her’s TiNTiY looks at the impact of (social) media on society as it focuses on oversharing, over-saturation and the bombardment of information, reflecting the physiological effects of this on the physical body. The work plays with the fun aspects of challenges, memes, skits and all manner of ‘entertaining content’ shared on these platforms, but counters this with the realities behind the facade. These darker undertones include an unending multitude of opinions, alternative truths and conspiracy theories, which create confusion, and anxiety and perpetuate the unease and precarity faced in society.

Performed on a stage, where the starkness of its raw form is highlighted with only designed lighting and club-like sounds composed by musical duo Husk Husk filling the space, three dancers perform overly produced gestures, as they move between their independent selves, into a shared entanglement and back again, blurring the lines of their individual and collective identities.

Choreographer and Performer Sung Im Her Performers Martha Passakopoulou and Seo Jun Lee

Lighting Design Hyung Sun Tak Composer Husk Husk

Age Recommendation: 8+ | Duration: 50min

Co-Commissioned by Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) (KR) & The Place (UK). Additional support from FABRIC (UK), New Italian Dance Platform (IT), Duncan Center (Greece) Horizon Performance Created in England (UK), S’ala (IT), Zeit (IT).

Flight by Melancholy Dance Company

Flight aims to express the human desire to soar towards goals through leaps and falls. This virtuosic duet portrays the process of overcoming the limits of human capability, which one cannot conquer alone, through a complete flight shared by two individuals.

Choreographer Cheolin Jeong Dancers Cheolin Jeong, Jisoo Ryun

Company Producer Minyoung Kim Sound Director Hyunsoo Kim

Age Recommendation: 7+ | Duration: 18min

Burnt Offering

25 May The Place, 7.30pm, £20 (£16 concs)

A sublime evocation of life; a danced ritual for our times. Most dances from all over the world originated from ‘religious rites’. Burnt Offering invites us to consider what new rituals we need, what we might pray for, and how we can draw on the traditions of the past. It is based on the traditional dance ‘Seungmu’, and uses Korean music, voice and dance to express the contemporary stories that are burning within us.

Dancers gather at the alter and offer their sacrifices one by one. They are caught up in repetitive daily routines, their life burning away without meaning, but when they look up, clouds of incense float into the air, and a dance commences which burns with a noble spirit, enveloping all the senses, to resonate with the soul.

In a world that grinds us down, this is a ‘burnt offering’ for meaning, beauty and peace.

Choreographer Hyerim Jang

Dancers Hyerim Jang, Seoyi Jang, Gowoon Lee, Sookyung Lee

Music Performers Jinah Hwang, Hwayoung Lee

Content Awareness: There will be some smoke from the incense during the performance.

Duration: 55min

Cheok

31 May – 1 June The Place, 7.30pm, £20 (£16 concs)

3 – 4 June The Lowry, 8pm, £17 - £16 (£15 - £14 concs)

Cheok by Ae-soon Ahn

Mysterious and virtuosic solos and groups connect and communicate in a rich and sensuous landscape of light, video, sound, and movement, creating new connections between humans: not building on logical precision, but rediscovering traditional Asian values. Six exquisite dancers create delicate scenes where memories of ancient systems offer a key to the future.

Cheok is the traditional Asian standard of measurement, meaning ‘span of the hand.’ Resisting the uniformity of society, this personal and individual measurement is the guiding principle of renowned Korean Choreographer Ae-soon Ahn’s visually enticing reflection of the nature of precision.

Choreographer and Artistic Director Ae-soon Ahn

Dancers Sang Ruly Han, Kyung Min Ji, Yura Park, Yunseung Do, Do Hyun Kim, Seung Joo Le

Producer Y.Chan Lee Dramaturge Jiyeon Kim

Stage Art Jongseok Kim Lighting Designer Seung-ho Lee

Music Minjoon Park Video MiRim Choo

Wardrobe SeoYoon Lee Stage Manager Tour Manager Hyojin Sarah Kim

Age Recommendation: 8+ | Duration: 60min