Kontemporary Korea Tour: Og(zero grams) + A Complementary Set

Kontemporary Korea: A double bill of K:Dance
FRI 9 MAY 19:30 l Pavilion Dance South West
TUE 13 MAY 19:30 l The Place
THU 15 MAY 19:30 l Dance City
Kontemporary Korea is a tour programme as part of A Festival of Korean Dance showcasing two of the freshest new voices in K-dance, each finding inspiration and playing in the balance between the mundane and the virtuosic. The Pavilion Dance South West and Dance City will present a double bill of 0g (zero grams) and A Complementary Set_Disappearing with An Impact on 9 May and 15 May. At The Place, 0g will be paired with Shinsegae, a choreographic UK debut from Ji-hye Chung on 13 May.
0g (zero grams)
- ★ ★ ★ ★ “Moving and uplifting.” (The Herald, on Flight)
0g (zero grams) by Melancholy Dance Company
Inspired by the repetitive and seemingly pointless actions of the mythical figure Sisyphus, 0g utilises the principle of ‘free fall movement’ to uncover the meaning of life anew within monotonous daily routines.
Melancholy Dance Company, founded by choreographer Cheol-in Jeong, plays with gravity through this principle of ‘free fall’ and applies it to various parts of the body, experimenting with extreme situations and dynamic movements, which are often dazzlingly virtuosic.
0g is the winner of the 2020 Dance Arts Award presented by Chum (Dance), a monthly Korean magazine specialising in contemporary dance.
About the company:
Founded in 2016 by choreographer Cheol-in Jeong, Melancholy Dance Company sees the world we live in itself as art. Their works Flight, 0g, Overmensch, Your Sign, Mobility, and Non-Protection take human life as the theme and explore human history and phenomena through variations of speed, rhythm and weight.
melancholy-dc.com
Credits:
Choreographer: Cheol-in Jeong
Performers: Ji-soo Ryu, Gyung-jae Mun, Cheol-in Jeong, Young-sang Ju, and Joong- keun Jeon
Producer: Min-young Kim
Sound Director: Tae-kyung Choi
Age: 5+
Duration: 30 mins
A Complementary Set_Disappearing with an Impact
A Complementary Set_Disappearing with an Impact by Choi x Kang Project
Are we able to control those outside of our gaze?
Choi x Kang Project’s experimental piece uses video and performance to explore the gap between different dimensions. Choreographers Min-sun Choi and Jin-an Kang focus on connecting with the body through multidisciplinary experiments and external devices, often drawing on collaborations with artists from other fields, and finding humour in the gap between what we see and what we expect to see.
Images filmed live on stage, re-broadcast on a screen behind the performers, battle with their physical presence for our attention. Sound becomes noise as it loses its power to exist as music and theatre’s limitations are tested and revealed.
- “The choreography is both radical and lucid, executed with exceptional precision, especially in its visual presentation.” (Min-kwan Kim, Art Scene)
- “The uniqueness of this piece lies in its simplicity, yet it stands apart from other performances by consistently questioning dance as a thoughtful act, culminating in a single, cohesive work.” (Ji-hyun Lee, Dance Critic)
About the company:
Choi x Kang Project is a group composed of Min-sun Choi and Jin-an Kang, who look for intuitive ways to generate movement and focus on the process of connecting with the body through multidisciplinary experiments and external devices. They have been expanding their own territory through participation in multidisciplinary projects, not only in the field of dance but also through collaborations with artists from other fields such as literature, visual art, and film. Through these collaborations with other genres, the group seeks to find a way out of the gap that occurs when the characteristics of each medium collide, and therefore to escape from traditional methods.
Choi x Kang won the Best Innovation in Performance Award at the 2024 Stockholm Fringe Festival and the Jury Prize at the 18th Yokahama Dance Collection, a choreography competition in Japan.
https://choixkangproject.creatorlink.net/
Credits:
Choreographer and Performer: Min-sun Choi and Jin-a Kang
Filmer and Performer: Tae-kyung Kim
Scenographer: Ro-wa Jeong
Music: Yo-han Ko
Stage Manager: Eun-jin Jo
Age: 12+
Duration: 25 mins