Londoners and Mancunians have already had a chance to see this stunning show, so if (rightly) they want to see it again they’ll need to get on a train. LKL is planning to travel up to Newcastle for the performance in the Theatre Royal, combining it with a visit to the Richard Rutt exhibition in Durham.
Dragons, by Eun-Me Ahn: 8-city UK tour
Dance Consortium presents the multi-media dance spectacular Dragons, from iconic South Korean dance artist Eun-Me Ahn, “…bursting with vivid strangeness and hope” (The Stage). An eight-venue tour opens at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 24 & 25 February
In Asia, dragons represent resilience, joy and optimism. They are the inspiration for this latest work by avant-garde choreographer Eun-Me Ahn, a swirling hallucinatory mix of dance, music, holograms and incredible costumes.
In Dragons, Ahn and her company of seven extraordinary dancers inhabit a constantly changing theatrical space of writhing silver vacuum hoses and the forests and cloudy skies of Taeseok Lee’s vivid and colourful projections.
Entering this fantastical world are holograms of five young guest performers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, all born in the year 2000. They share their individual hopes and fresh perspectives on how past and future can coexist. Together they celebrate the vitality of the hyper-connected Gen-Z and its ability to shift and change in a tumultuous world.
Created in the isolated time of Covid, Dragons interweaves vibrant contemporary moves with ancient dance forms from across Asia. This mix is echoed in Jang Young-Gyu’s evocative soundtrack which seamlessly blends traditional Korean music with contemporary pop and electronica.
Eun-Me Ahn is one of the most important artists in South Korea. Now in her sixties, she founded her contemporary dance company in 1988, presenting work in major theatres and festivals around the world. Her strong feminist views led her to dress in a strikingly unconventional way, shaving her head and rejecting the traditional Korean view of women she describes as ‘long hair, good girl, charming wife”. Ahn regularly subverts traditional attitudes to age and gender roles with her acclaimed intergenerational works, often working with non-professionals.
The company dancers are Hyekyoung Kim, Seyeon Kim, Hyeonseo Lee, Gaon Han, Sunjae Jo, Deokyeong Kim, Yongsik Moon and Eun-Me Ahn herself. They are joined by guest performers on screen Nur Syahidah Binti Hazmi, Akari Takahashi, Jiwan Jung, Siiko Setyanto, Dwi Nusa Aji Winarno and Guan Ting Zhou.
Joe Bates, Chief Executive of Dance Consortium, says: “I first saw this show with some of the Dance Consortium members in France back in 2022 having just started in my new role. We were so blown away by vibrancy of the costumes, the amazing technicality of the dancers and how the young people in the audience responded that we knew we had to tour it. Dragons is a blend of performance styles – theatre, dance, visual arts, digital art – there will be something for everyone in this show. Shows like this help Dance Consortium ensure that the stages of UK theatres have new and exciting offers to audiences around the country.”
Listings information
- Southampton: Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 February at 7.30pm
Mayflower Theatre, 22-26 Commercial Road, Southampton SO15 1GE
Tickets: 023 8071 1811 / www.mayflower.org.uk - Canterbury: Friday 28 February & Saturday 1 March at 7.30pm
The Marlowe Theatre, The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS
Tickets: 01227 787787 / https://marlowetheatre.com/ - Brighton, Tuesday 4 & Wednesday 5 March at 7.30pm
Brighton Dome, Church St, Brighton BN1 1UE
Tickets: 01273 709709 / https://brightondome.org/ - Milton Keynes, Friday 7 & Saturday 8 March at 7.30pm
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ
Tickets: 0333 009 6690 / www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes - Newcastle, Friday 14 & Saturday 15 March at 7.30pm
Theatre Royal, 100 Grey St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6BR
Tickets: 0191 232 7010 / www.theatreroyal.co.uk - Inverness, Tuesday 18 & Wednesday 18 March at 7.30pm
Eden Court, Bishops Rd, Inverness IV3 5SA
Tickets: 01463 234234 / www.eden-court.co.uk - Bradford, Friday 21 & Saturday 22 March at 7.30pm
Alhambra Theatre, Morley St, Bradford BD7 1AJ
Tickets: 01274 432000 / www.bradford-theatres.co.uk - Birmingham, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 March at 7.30pm
Hippodrome, Hurst St, Birmingham B5 4TB
Tickets: 0844 338 5000 / www.birminghamhippodrome.com
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