Details

Classics and contemporaneity coexisting and encompassing times and generations -

Contemporary dance’s imitation of pansori

About performance

A new piece by Kyung-eun Lee, is a pansori imitating project. Delivered through pansori elements -sori, aniri and balim- is the transformation from a helpless being, who lost agency of one’s life obeying to someone else, into übermensch, with full freedom of one’s life as Nietzsche says. In this piece, choreographer Kyung-eun Lee talks about the collaboration of contemporary dance and pansori, social issue of unjust use of power and three stages of maturing of human mind. The problem of hierarchy in this society is coming from the imbalance and abuse of power. If the will of power is absolute, wouldn’t there be a completely different interpretation when we take our lives in our own hands? Satirizing our harsh reality with exciting and festive pansori imitation, the piece tries to offer an opportunity to reclaim the ownership of our life.

Synopsis

Balim is a set of gestures that express the progress of sori(song) in pansori. This work portrays people of today with movements, who are living an uneasy and unstable life. These movements sometimes seem like a servant’s in the old times trotting to follow his master, and sometimes like an employee being busy around his boss. This performance seeks transformation from a helpless being, who lost agency to one’s life obeying to someone else, into übermensch with full freedom of one’s life as Nietzsche says. Nietzsche saw artist as an example of übermansch, because an artist successfully achieves a higher level of power than those who only try to dominate others, by successfully exerting their innate skills through creativity. Pansori’s balim, sense of humor and tragic beauty will communicate the message of the piece, the free will of a full self, in a contemporary language.

Part 1, A Camel: The stage of a camel burdened with heavy luggage. Trotting of an obedient servant.

Part 2, A Lion: A roaring tiger breaking away from the unwanted burden. Striding to gain ownership of one’s life.

Part 3, A Child: A child who generates life by playing. Rising up as übermansch.

Credit

Artistic director, Choreographer / Kyung-eun Lee

Music selection, Costume, Props / Kyung-eun Lee

Pansori Creation / Ga-yeon Yoon, Jin-seon Kim, Sun-ju Kim

Pansori Guidance / Eun-kyung Min

Music Edit / Tae-sun You

Cast / Ga-yeon Yoon, Seok-young Ju, Jin-seon Kim, Sun-ju Kim, Bon-jun Koo

About company

LEE K. DANCE

LEE K. DANCE is a contemporary dance company founded to integrate today’s social issues with our tradition and weave them into contemporary performances. Her unique vision and prolific work have earned her Gold Prize at Korean Choreographer Festival, 1^st Choreography prize at International Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival in Germany and the 3-year support(2007-2010) of Intensive Support for Performing Arts Companies as the first young company. Recently, their works were presented and received with enthusiasm at Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, France, in 2016 and Dance Base at Edinburgh Fringe in 2017.

Reviews

“One of the strengths of Kyung-eun Lee is that she always invent, in each of her work, the images, dynamics or sensory partition of energy.”

- Young-tae Kim(dance critic)