North Korea Dance
Eun-Me Ahn
The godmother of South Korean contemporary dance envisions the dances that breathe in a country so close, yet so distant.
Two countries in East Asia have existed under a decades-long ceasefire. Sharing the same roots and traditions, they have developed under different ideologies shaped by the course of history and long-standing divisions. Born in South Korea and active in New York, Wuppertal, and Paris, Eun-Me Ahn has become one of the most internationally recognized contemporary dance choreographers, and at one point, she realized how little she knew about the dances of people in the neighboring country: North Korea. Collecting materials from the Internet—including military parades, fan dances, gestures showing off virility, virtuoso acrobatics, traditional dances, and village dances—she created her own colorful system of signs, using the power of dance to imagine what lies beyond the division.
Premiering in Japan this year, on the occasion of the “60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea,” North Korea Dance unfolds from everyday gestures to epic tableaux. With humor and sincerity, it explores the differences and similarities between Northern and Southern dance, transcends them, and seeks to discover something entirely new.
Venue
- KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre Hall
- 281 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama 231-0023
Date and Time
12.8 Mon 19:00
Running Time
70 minutes
Accessibility
*Please inquire YPAM Secretariat for tickets for wheelchair seats (+81 45 264 6514 / ticket@ypam.jp)
*On-site childcare available during the performance (¥2,000). Please contact the YPAM Secretariat one week before the show.
Tickets
General ¥6,000
YPAM Registrant ¥3,000
Available at the YPAM Ticketing site and Ticket Kanagawa (general only)
*No preschool children allowed
Artist Information
- Eun-Me Ahn
After studying traditional dance, shamanism, modern and contemporary dance, she founded her own company in 1988, and moved to New York in 1994. Frequent visits to Wuppertal deepened her engagement with Pina Bausch. Returning to South Korea in 2001, she became Artistic Director of the Daegu City Dance Company, and the following year choreographed the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Daegu. In 2018, she was named an Associate Artist of the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. Known for her positive and vividly colorful style, her works have toured major festivals and theaters around the world. Sometimes taking an anthropological approach, at other times gleefully breaking conventions, the “godmother” of South Korean contemporary dance drags dance back into society.
Staff, Cast and Credits
Choreography and Artistic Direction: Eun-Me Ahn
Music: Young-Gyu Jang
Set and Costume Design: Eun-Me Ahn
Set and Costumes: Yunkwan Design
Lighting Design: Jin-Young Jang
Video Direction: Jinwon Lee
Creation Technical Direction: Jimyung Kim
Production: Eun-Me Ahn Company
Co-production: Korean Traditional Performing Arts Foundation, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris
Dancers: Eun-Me Ahn, Hyekyoung Kim, Yongsik Moon, Uiyoung Jung, Deokyeong Kim, Gaon Han, Sunjae Jo, Jeeyeun Kim, Jaeeun Kim, Hyeonseo Lee, Ei Sul Lee
Musician: Soon-A Park (gayageum)
Stage Manager: Jimyung Kim
Lighting Programmer: Sangmin Lee
Video: Taeseok Lee
Production Manager: Jean-Marie Chabot
Production Assistant: Sungbin Kim
Stage Manager: Lang Craighill | Lighting: Nami Nakayama, Rie Koreyasu, Maina Kitagami, Maki Ueyama | Sound: Takeshi Inarimori, Yukiko Ueshima | Stage: Stage Work URAK Co., Ltd. | Video: Yoshihiro Yoshida (Edith Glove Co., Ltd.) | Technical Coordination: Maki Ueyama, So Ozaki, Takeshi Inarimori, Lang Craighill | Management: Kei Saito | Head of Management: Kumi Hiraoka
KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre | Stage Mechanism: Yuuki Suzuki, Taira Yamazoe, Marina Uno | Lighting: Ayaka Yamashita, Makoto Ooshima, Maina Kitagami, Yasuko Seki | Sound: Yuuko Nishida, Tae Mizuno, Shoumi Sakurauchi | Production Manager: Toru Hirai | Assistant Production Manager: Minori Kodama
This project receives the Kanagawa Prefecture Magcal Deployment Promotion Subsidy.
