Korea National Contemporary Dance Company's Jungle
Jungle by the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company
WED 7 - THU 8 MAY 19:30 | The Place
Amid the chaos we create order. Jungle is our life.
A seventeen-strong company gathers onstage for an extraordinary spectacle of vitality. Based on ‘Process Init’, an unconventional movement research method developed by the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company’s artistic director, Sung-young Kim, Jungle is full of wildly instinctive movements that expand and unfurl, rich with the energy of survival. The dancers embody all the elements of the jungle, from the animals, plants, winds, and lights to the humans who navigate it. Their movements, with all their senses and responses, are pure and raw.
After strong receptions from audiences in France, Italy, Austria, Kazakhstan and the UAE in 2024, Jungle has its UK premiere at The Place as part of a new European tour.
The performance on 7 May will be followed by a post-show discussion.
Jungle
- ★ ★ ★ ★ “The dancers move seamlessly through coolly sustained balances and a radiant calligraphy of torso and limb. Arms glide like wings, legs extend in flickering stabs, bodies are held in quiet equipoise.” (The Observer on Immixture)
- “The profound discipline, dynamism and musicality of this company is on clear display (…) and makes for a truly electrifying performance.” (Quays Life)
- “It's like tuning violin strings when you hit a perfect fifth and all of a sudden it sings.” (The Guardian on Everything Falls Dramatic)
About the company:
Established in 2010, the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) is Korea's only national contemporary dance company. Through dance created in collaboration with artists with exceptional creative capacities, KNCDC aspires to create Korean contemporary dance that tells stories of history, society, and daily life of contemporaneity that can be appreciated across regions and by all generations. In May 2023 choreographer Sung-young Kim succeeded as the fifth artistic director of KNCDC.
About the choreographer:
Based on his philosophy that 'dance is a language that cannot be described in words', Sung-young Kim pursues dance as the 'most truthful means of expression'. He emphasizes that dance is an art to be expressed frankly above all. The movement research 'Process Init', which he developed with a focus on sense and reaction, has inspired his use of atypical and creative movement on stage.
Credits:
Choreographer: Sung-young Kim
Composer and Music Director: Marihiko Hara
Scenographer: Jae-hun You
Performers: Seong-ryong Kang, Seung-hyun Kang, Min-ah Kim, Yoon-mee Kim, Yun-hyun Kim, Min-jung Sung, Ji-yeon Yang, Da-jeong Yu, Kyun-gyub Lee, Ji-soo Lee, Jae-woo Jung, Ju-ryung Jung, Hyun-do Jo, Young-don Cheon, Yeon-jin Choi, Ji-hye Ha, Jee-hyun Hong
Age: 7+
Duration: 60 mins
