A Festival of Korean Dance 2026
A Festival of Korean Dance 2026
13 - 30 May 2026A long-standing highlight of the dance calendar, A Festival of Korean Dance returns this May with distinct productions presented across the UK.
99 Art Company presents the double bill Abyss and Ekah, blending traditional Korean dance with contemporary movement, alongside a tour of the audience favourite Burnt Offering.
Ryu and Friends make their UK debut with GRAVITY, an eleven-dancer ensemble work premiering at Tramway in Glasgow before travelling to The Place in London.
The festival concludes with a double bill from the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, pairing Young-doo Jung’s rhythm-led Voyage with Ryu Suzuki’s club-inflected Hakkō.
“moments of intensity or wonder”
A Festival of Korean Dance 2026 Programme
- GRAVITY by Ryu and Friends
Wed 13 - Fri 15 May / Tramway, The Place
A spectacular UK-debut from Ryu and Friends, GRAVITY unleashes an ensemble of eleven dancers swept up by invisible forces—shaking, scattering and spinning through a universe in motion. Experimental choreographer Jang-hyun Ryu translates the push and pull of all matter into surging physical energy, dynamic interactions and an otherworldly soundscape that mutates and ignites across the stage.
- Abyss & Ekah by 99 Art Company
Wed 13 May / The Place
Returning to the UK after 2024 audience favourite Burnt Offering, 99 Art Company present a poignant double-bill that connects tradition and contemporary movement through ritual and remembrance. Abyss draws on Korean dance principles to explore han—a quiet depth of sorrow and resilience—while Ekah, a duet between a female dancer and a male pianist, contemplates grief and invites audiences to pause together and mourn what’s been lost.
- Burnt Offering by 99 Art Company
Fri 15 – Mon 18 May / Pavilion Dance South West, Dance City
Winner of the Best Production Award at the 2nd Seoul Arts Awards, Burnt Offering is a danced ritual for our times—asking what new ceremonies we need, what we might pray for, and how tradition can speak to the present. Rooted in the traditional dance Seungmu, dancers gather at an altar to offer their sacrifices one by one, caught in repetitive daily routines as incense clouds the stage and awakens the imagination. In a world that grinds us down, this is an offering for meaning, beauty, and peace.
- Voyage & Hakkō by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company
Tue 26 – Sat 30 May / Lowry, The Place
Festival favourite KNCDC return with a sharply contrasting double-bill showcasing the company’s precision, range and power. In Young-doo Jung’s Voyage, upbeat choreography and a tongue-in-cheek classical score capture the shifting textures of “being together,” moving between minimalism and joyful communion; in Ryu Suzuki’s Hakkō, repeated actions build into a frenetic, trance-like momentum inspired by kendama and club culture—an urgent, contemporary prayer for breath.
Programme events
Abyss & Ekah by 99 Art Company
GRAVITY by Ryu and Friends
Burnt Offering by 99 Art Company
GRAVITY by Ryu and Friends
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