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Category Archives: Dance

Korean Artists at the Edinburgh Fringe

25-Jun-08

Korean Artists at the Edinburgh Fringe

I spotted that the Cho-in Theatre Company are putting on a performance at the KCC this coming Monday (30 June). A still from their production The Angel and the Woodcutter is shown on the right. This notice got me thinking about the Edinburgh Fringe, which was choc-full of Korean talent last year. Same again this year, with the emphasis on "physical theatre", including the b-boy crew who gave us the "Ballerina who loves b-boys" last year. Some more traditional performances as well. Here's the results of typing "Korea" into the Edinburgh Fringe website. Do check the website for any changes, and for venue details. Yo! Chunhyang - A Pansori Musical of Chunhyang Fusion musical retelling of Korea's Chunhyangga legend, mixing Western music and traditional ...
Also filed in B-boys, Edinburgh 2008, Events news, Physical theatre & mime | | Comments (2) »

Kayagum and dance at SOAS

06-Nov-07
As part of the SOAS autumn concert series there's a kayagum recital, with traditional and contemporary dance, on 19 November at 7pm. Choi Jin (최진) : Evocative Korean Kayagum and Dance Choi Jin is one of the most brilliant kayagum players in the Korean music world. As a well-known performer, she has given many concerts around the world and has published 3 CDs. At SOAS, she will combine brilliant technical artistry on the zither with traditional and contemporary dance. The sound of Choi Jin and her kayagum ensemble will transport you to one of Asia's most distant lands, evoking ancient and contemporary worlds. Free admission, no booking required. It's first come, first served. Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, ...
Also filed in Events news, Korean traditional music | | Comments (0) »

Weekend events: modern dance and the Thames Festival

14-Sep-07
First, thanks to Colin Bartlett for letting me know about Korean dancers from the Robin Howard Dance Theatre performing at The Place, near Euston. We've already missed one of the performances, which was yesterday evening: Jin-Yeob Cha, who has worked with a variety of Korean and international choreographers, including Ismael Ivo, Itzik Galili, Iztok Kovac, Kristine Jomalade, Dominique Porte (Montreal Dance Company), Micha Purucker and Katja Wachter. Saturday night the cast will include Sun-A Lee, whose solo won the French Embassy Young Choreographer's Prize in this year's Yokohama Dance Collection. Performing Dream concerns a dancer's insomnia brought about by the building pressure to perform the following day. To get an idea of the style of dance, watch this clip. You are warned ...
Also filed in Events news, Thames Festival 2007 | | Comments (0) »

More Korean performances at Edinburgh Fringe

31-Jul-07
My recent post on Korean events at the Edinburgh Fringe seriously undersold the Korean involvement there. I was simply reproducing the publicity of one particular organisation - Korea@fringe. But that organisation is only responsible for the six acts I mentioned in my previous post. Thanks to Colin Bartlett for pointing this out. So here is, as far as I am aware, a complete list of the Korean acts at the Fringe (derived simply by searching the Fringe website for the keyword "Korea"). The Angel and the Woodcutter - Cho-in Theatre group, 1-27 August Venue C Award-winning physical theatre. An innovative infusion of traditional and contemporary style. Comedic but utterly compelling. Amidst war and desperation blooms a beautiful Korean folk tale that speaks ...
Also filed in B-boys, Edinburgh 2007, Events news, Physical theatre & mime | | Comments (0) »

Korean traditional dance at Asia House

25-Jul-07
Peter Corbishley reports on last week's dance event at Asia House Thanks to some unusual traffic your reviewer arrived late enough to get a front row seat for this unique performance of seven of eleven traditional Korean dances. 'Exciting', 'beautiful', 'unexplored but most interesting' were some of the words and phrases used to introduce this production by the Korean Traditional Music Association at Asia House Wednesday 18th July 2007. Mi-Ja Won first danced 'Scent of a woman' moving up from the ground and finally returning to the floor focused first on a series of intricate counter tensioning upper body movements before taking up a fan and rising with a more insistent musical accompaniment to dance through the available stage, sometimes with ...
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kore@fringe

24-Jul-07
Korean artists feature in no less than six productions at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Something for everyone. Full details below: Dulsori Binari -- The Spirit of the Beat @ The Old College Quad 3 - 27 August Don't miss this passionate and colourful performance showcasing the unique heritage and spirited origins of traditional Korean culture. Lose yourself in the powerful beats and dynamic rhythms of the drums. Binari: The Spirit of the Beat will intrigue audiences bringing the mesmerizing and synchronised sounds of the Orient into a spectacular performance using dynamic percussion, energetic singing and the rituals of the ancient arts. It is one of the oldest Korean traditions -- so make sure you come along and feel the beat! "It's a gripping performance ...
Also filed in B-boys, Edinburgh 2007, Events news, Theatre | | Comments (2) »

Traditional Korean dance at Asia House next week

14-Jul-07
Details below: DANCE PERFORMANCE An Enchanting Evening of Korean Traditional Dance Wednesday 18 July at Asia House Introduction by Jeannie-J Kim, Choreographed by Kil-Soon Yang Doors 6.45, Performance 7.00-8.30pm Followed by a drinks reception and light Korean buffet Please note the later start time! ((I'm not quite sure why they draw this to our attention. With most of the Korean events at Asia House, by the time the audience shows up it's 7pm anyway)) Asia House presents a Korean traditional dance performance in association with the Korean Cultural Centre, UK featuring five professional dancers - Kil-Soon Yang, Mi-ja Won, Soon-im Hwang, Gil-ja Yang and Sam-young Kang. Jeannie-J Kim (Head, Korean Dance Association, LA and one of the original members of the Korean National Dance Company) will give an introduction ...
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Monster Madrid K-fest in February!!!

09-Jan-07
Just received from the organisers of ARCO 2007 in Madrid. Film, music, dance, literature and of course contemporary art. To call it a feast undersells it. And that's not all: this is just the stuff they know about already. There's some other stuff they haven't finalised. I haven't taken all this in yet, but I thought I'd post it straight away to make sure you got your tickets sorted out. Time to escape to Spain, everyone. Or ask them to ship everything to London once they've finished with it. I'll let you know when I hear more, and if anything more coherent strikes me once I've had a proper chance to read the information below. I've also got a list of the ...
Also filed in ARCO 07 Madrid, Events news, Film, General book news, Korean traditional music | | Comments (1) »

Danoje: another slightly baffling event from Think Korea

16-Jun-06
If you had read the blurb on the Bloomsbury Theatre website you might have been expecting two performances at the NewRa performance earlier this week: a performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring; and a performance of a Korean springtime ritual. Here's the material from the Bloomsbury site,
Also filed in Event reports and reviews, Music: other, Performance arts | | Comments (0) »

Review: Korean Breeze - Bloomsbury Theatre 24 May

01-Jun-06
An evening which displayed the rich variety of Korean traditional music. This was a big enterprise, with twelve distinguished musicians involved in the tour, organised by Justina Jang of the Korean Cultural Promotion Agency as part of Think Korea 2006. The musicians played earlier the same week in the Hollywell Music Room in Oxford and Clare Hall in Cambridge, forming part of a mini Korean festival there. The concerts were timed to coincide reasonably closely with an auspicious time in the Korean calendar, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, which this year falls on 31 May. Part of the pleasure of the Bloomsbury Theatre concert was the spectacle of seeing the traditional costumes, displayed perfectly against the black of the ...
Also filed in Event reports and reviews, Korean traditional music | | Comments (2) »

Eun Me Ahn: Chunhyang - an impossible love

11-Apr-06
I'm afraid I lack the critical faculties to describe the evening adequately, but it's well worth going to and I think I might be going back to see it again tomorrow. It's two nights only. I went along with an avowed non dance fan and someone who was hoping for something very traditional, and both thoroughly enjoyed it. Music was impressive -- traditional instruments (apart from the keyboard); and yes there was some pansori singing, but it was much broader than that. A huge amount of variety. Bits of Philip Glass & Steve Reich, but with hyperactive drum rhythms from darkest Africa or Stravinsky; and chaotic shamanistic(?)-style music with frenetic gongs and that instrument which sounds like a strangulated oboe. ...
Also filed in Event reports and reviews, Music: other | | Comments (1) »