K-Dance 2023: Company SIGA and Howool Baek Triple Bill

A triple bill of K:Dance by leading Korean talent Howool Baek and Company SIGA, part of A Festival of Korean Dance, now in its 6th year.

Foreign Body by Howool Baek

The humorous short film Foreign Body travels through Berlin’s iconic sites, from the German Parliament’s famous glass dome to the graffitied walls of its trendy neighbourhoods. In ten short episodes the foreign bodies of three dancers insert themselves in witty yet unsettling encounters, multiplying as clones and forcing themselves in as aliens. But who decides who is alien or excluded in our urban landscapes?

Did U Hear by Howool Baek

The solo Did U Hear by winner of Valencia Choreography competition Howool Baek is based on the poem ‘The rose that grew from concrete’ by rapper 2PAC. It deconstructs and fragments the body and sound into new and surprising forms, conjuring up an intriguing visual and aural landscape of mystery and visceral connections.

Choreography and Dance: Howool Baek
Composition and Live Music: Matthias Erian

Supported by Arts Printing House (Vilnius, Lithuania) and Tanzzentrale (Fuerth, Germany). Co-produced by Im_flieger (Vienna, Austria).

Rush by Company SIGA

Slow as it may be, this is a rush at my own speed. Slow as it may be, a rush with sincerity.

The multisensory Rush by Hyuk Kwon for Company SIGA is about pausing to listen to the needs of the inner self to gain peace in existing as we are. Two subtle male dancers Hyuk Kwon and Jinyoung Yang move through a meditative process, which takes them in and out of unison and into a spiritual and ritualistic space, where time becomes endless and they become their true selves. They are driven and supported by evocative string music by Hyunsu Kim, an atmospheric light design and even inclusion of smell to arrive at a new state of being one with oneself.

Choreographer: Hyuk Kwon
Cast: Hyuk Kwon and Jinyoung Yang
Lighting: Yujin Hong
Music: Hyunsu Kim
Producer: Hana Jo
Production: Company SIGA

About Howool Baek

Choreographer Howool Baek has established her own choreographic language by discovering faceless body expression through body fragments. And she proposes a different perspective on the body through the deconstruction and transformation of the body. By breaking stereotypes about the body, she wants the audience to have a new experience with the body and to look at society from a different perspective. Recently, she expanded the concept of the stage to the digital space and is experimenting with her own choreography method on the digital stage. howoolbaek.com

Follow Howool Baek on Instagram | Facebook

About Company SIGA

Company SIGA chief executive, choreographer and dancer Hyuk Kwon stood out as a dancer after winning the gold medal at the 2014 Dong-A Dance Competition in the General Department of Modern Dance. Known for works including Rush, Energy, cittaslow,while and zero, while actively working as a choreographer, Kwon won the Best Performance at the 2022 Dance Art Award. Hyuk Kwon puts the human body as an essential element in dance and does not hesitate to push the body to the limit, continuing to look at the world through ethereal energy and human bodies. companysiga.com

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This triple bill is part of A Festival Of Korean Dance 2023, supported by Korea Cultural Centre UK and Korea Arts Management Service, produced in partnership with The Place, Warwick Arts Centre, South East Dance and The Lowry.