London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

K-Dance 2025 on tour to Bournemouth, Salford and Newcastle

The 2025 Festival of Korean Dance visits three venues outside of London: the double bill Kontemporary Korea visits Bournemouth (9 May) and Newcastle (15 May), while Ham:beth by Modern Table visits Salford (20 May). Modern Table’s programme is identical to their performance at the Place (programme details here), but the Kontemporary Korea programme is different … [Read More]

K-Dance 2025: Ham:beth by Modern Table

Boy-band meets Shakespearean drama in this energetic all-male show by Modern Table. Seven dancers in slick suits battle against the pressure to conform. Claiming their right to desire, their quests push them into becoming lone heroes. Loosely inspired by depictions of madness in Hamlet and Macbeth, Ham:beth combines traditional Korean songs with a live rock … [Read More]

K-Dance 2025: Kontemporary Korea: A Double Bill of K:Dance

Kontemporary Korea is a showcase of two of the freshest new voices in K-dance, each finding inspiration and play in the balance between the mundane and the virtuosic. The event will be followed by a post-show discussion. 0g (zero grams) by Melancholy Dance Company Inspired by the repetitive and seemingly pointless actions of the mythical figure Sisyphus, 0g utilises the … [Read More]

K-Dance 2025: Jungle by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company

Amid the chaos we create order. Jungle is our life. A seventeen-strong company gathers onstage for an extraordinary spectacle of vitality. Based on ‘Process Init’, an unconventional movement research method developed by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company’s artistic director Sung-young Kim, Jungle is full of wildly instinctive movements which expand and unfurl, rich with the energy of survival. The dancers embody … [Read More]

K-Dance 2024: Cheok, by Ae-soon Ahn

Cheok is the traditional Asian standard of measurement, meaning ‘span of the hand.’ Resisting the uniform standardisation of society, this personal and individual measurement is the guiding principle of renowned Korean Choreographer Ae-soon Ahn’s visually enticing reflection of the nature of precision. Mysterious and virtuosic solos and groups connect and communicate in a rich and sensuous landscape of … [Read More]

K-Dance 2024: Burnt Offering, by 99 Art Company

A sublime evocation of life; a danced ritual for our times. Most dances from all over the world originated from ‘religious rites’. Burnt Offering, winner of the Best Production award at the 2nd Seoul Arts Awards at the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, invites us to consider what new rituals we need, what we might … [Read More]

K-Dance 2024: Kontemporary Korea – a double bill of K-Dance

Kontemporary Korea is a double bill of contrasting works, introducing one of Korea’s leading choreographers Cheol-in Jeong who creates virtuosic and emotive works as Melancholy Dance Company, and audience favourite Sung Im Her, offering her high energy and engaging personality to another edition of A Festival of Korean Dance. TomorrowIsNowTodayIsYesterday (TinTiY) Sung Im Her’sTiNTiY looks at the impact of (social) media on … [Read More]

A Festival of Korean Dance 2022

The Festival of Korean Dance is back. The programme is pretty much what we were going to see in the 2020 festival, which of course got cancelled. I’m glad we haven’t missed out, and I’m really looking forward to this. So, here’s the official press release. A Festival of Korean Dance returns to The Place … [Read More]

K-Dance 2022: Collective A / Jinyeob Cha – MIIN: Body to Body

In this visually arresting performance, Collective A’s critically acclaimed choreographer Jinyeob Cha examines perceptions of beauty and femininity beyond societal norms and traditions. Accompanied by a hypnotic soundscape created by two acclaimed musicians based in Seoul, Eun-yong Sim, from Korean Avant-rock band Jambinai, and haihm, an electronic musician, six female dancers flit between precise, discreet, … [Read More]

K-Dance 2022: Soo Hyun Hwang – Sense of Darkness | Yun Jung Lee – Tongue Gymnastics

Soo Hyun Hwang – Sense of Darkness With their eyes closed throughout the show, the performers in Sense of Darkness draw the audience into a world in which intricate movements and sounds are amplified. Each performer uses the sound created by themselves as signals to coordinate the locations of oneself, the other performers, audience members, … [Read More]