Dozens of chairs are arranged neatly so as to cover the entire stage. They seem cold, unwilling to permit even an inch of escape. A man cautiously squeezes into the narrow space between the rows of square chairs. The numerous chairs represent the emptiness inside the heart of the man—and the hearts of countless other people—waiting for something. Along with the various forms of waiting presented there, he asks, “Will she come?” over and over again. Soon, the stage is thrown into chaos as he disturbs the order of the chairs. The feelings of waiting and of desperation are subsumed by dancing that is sometimes strong and sometimes teary-eyed. But the woman whose arrival he had longed for so intensely comes in the guise of a beautiful and yet lifeless mannequin who fails to find any warmth in the man’s embrace.

ONA Is She Coming? (first performed in October 2012) is the first new piece that choreographer Choe Sang-cheul has released in two years. Where his previous piece Argument (2010, check out the previous interview here) presented collective and contrasting relationships inside of a strong visual structure, ONA Is She Coming? is a more private work that takes an in-depth look at the landscape of waiting. Like Beckett’s Godot, the woman presented here (“she”) is not so much a person in her own right as something that belongs to those who are waiting. As they wait for her (though she will not come even if they do) human time is not abandoned but rather burns even hotter. However, while Godot in the end does not reveal himself, the audience can see how the “she” in ONA Is She Coming? reveals herself through the man’s feelings.

Universal Appeal and a Narrative Filled with Korean Sentiment

Choe Sang-cheul, who is part of the second wave of contemporary Korean dance, studied in New York for seven years as he wrestled with various questions about dance. When he began his overseas studies in 1989, it was a time when postmodern dance was becoming especially vibrant in the US, and it was there that Choe Sang-cheul thought long and hard about whether to work on contemporary dances that he could share with the world as a Korean choreographer. The first generation of dancers who had come before him could be said to have tried to discover a uniquely Korean means of artistic expression through the spontaneity and the fluid gestures of Korean dance. Choe Sang-cheul, on the other hand, focused more on blending the traditional breathing and movements of Korean dance together with the techniques of improvised dance in New York. Through these efforts, he gained recognition as a “mesmerizing performer” in the contemporary scene (Jenifer Dunning, New York Times, June 1991). At the same time, he was integrating playful narratives marked by Korean sentiment into his works to give them an even more universal appeal.

Choe is progressive in the sense that his choreographic research knows no boundaries. Even though he patiently explores how media, dance, and technology can be combined, he does not forget to return to the simplicity and sweat of the basics of dance. He does not prefer decorative or elaborate movements in his dances. Rather, he carefully avoids any movements that would conflict with his natural, direct, and unpretentious temperament (which is also visible in his everyday life) or that would interfere with or distract from the theme that he hopes to express. This is why he stays away from elaborate sets and pays careful attention to the lighting. This is not to say that his works rely on simplistic, direct expression. In particular, as can be seen in ONA Is She Coming? Choe is serious and thorough enough to find his own unique method of communicating to the viewer the true significance of the void that can never be satisfied. Unaffected yet serious—such contradictory tendencies as these functions to provide balance in his unique creative process.

Develop a Piece through Improvisation and Imagination and Then View It Once More Throughthe Eyes of the Audience

It takes about six months of practice to make one piece, Choe says. During that period of time, he puts aside all of his normal activities. His normal generosity and warmth are entirely replaced by the concentration and sensitivity that are necessary for creating a work of art. His future pieces are generally conceived as he is working on another piece. Creating the plans for his next work in this way makes it possible for him to concentrate fully on his present work. He generally starts working on a piece after he selects the title from the theme. At this point, he works to internalize the piece through exploring the theme and practicing improvisation with the dancers for a long period of time. In the next stage, the piece takes shape as he brings together the most authentic movements that only emerge after the dancers have had sufficient exposure to the theme. But there is another important stage for Choe, the final stage in the process. After the piece begins to approach completion, he begins to look at it once more, but this time through the dispassionate eyes of the audience. That process can be a little painful, as it means that he has to get rid of sections he had cared deeply about, but he does this because he believes it to be an important duty that modern dance choreographers owe their audience. All of us are aware of how uncomfortable many modern dance compositions make audiences and how irresponsibly they come to an end. It is clear that the sense of a dynamic and lifelike theme that viewers get from his work results from the stability that is achieved through this final stage of filtering.

The Pain of Hearts That Are Pierced with a Sense of Loss and Futility

ONA Is She Coming? gives viewer insight into the emptiness of waiting and desire, and into futility, which grows just as strong as the other feelings. People today are descendants of Sisyphus. We face not only existential angst but also the desires that are stirred up by the extreme materialism of society. Though we strive each day to fill the emptiness, it always remains with us. If there is a way in which we are different from Sisyphus, it is not only that we are trapped in the unending cycle of physical agony—forced again and again to roll the boulder up the hill only for it to come rolling down again—but that our hearts are also pierced by psychological futility and a sense of loss. And for us, it is not even easy to find a spare moment to reflect upon our own hearts. In ONA Is She Coming? Choe shows the process of increasing the temperature of the heart to overcome futility—not through viewing the pierced heart with a futile gaze, but rather through waiting with patience and persistence. Through the last glimpse of the man waiting for her, the viewer comes to understand the end result of these fiery emotions.

He will wait for her though she does not come, and she will exist even though he is not there. Once both of them have exited, the stage is filled with nothing but the heated passage of time. ONA Is She Coming? fills our cooling hearts with persistence and the warmth of waiting. After I emerged from the theater after watching this dance, I was reminded of an old pearl of wisdom. “When you understand that emptiness is fullness, you have reached enlightenment.”