Below a dim mild, two dancers sit quietly on a big white canvas. They clasp each other’s hand, nonetheless and meditative, whereas of their free palms they maintain sticks of charcoal.
Shifting in unison, the 2 start to attract with gestures deliberate, rhythmic, nearly sacred. Because the motion repeats, their hair loosens, their breath grows heavier, and the charcoal begins to blur and smudge, forsaking black traces that resemble sparks, flowers, then ashes. The efficiency appears like a ritual, or a ceremony in movement.
That is the opening scene of “Je: Burnt Providing,” an award-winning modern dance work by the normal Korean dance firm, 99 Artwork Firm.
The piece begins its three-week European tour, spanning 5 nations and 7 cities, in Andorra on Tuesday, marking the twenty fifth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Andorra. The manufacturing will then journey by way of Italy (Bari, Nov. 15 and Rome, Nov. 18), France (Paris, Nov. 21 and Thonon-les-Bains, Nov. 25), Belgium, Nov. 28-29 and Prague, Dec. 2.
“I needed to create a dance of prayer,” stated Jang Hye-rim, the corporate’s creative director and choreographer. “Whereas choreographing this work, I saved asking myself what a honest prayer means in our time.”
The rhythms are rooted in “seungmu,” or a standard Korean Buddhist dance as soon as carried out by monks. Drawing on the “jangdan” (rhythmic cyles) and melodies of people ritual, the piece additionally echoes the Previous Testomony notion of a burnt sacrifice urged by its title.
Accompanied by reside performances on gayageum and geomungo (conventional Korean string devices), the 60-minute work pays homage to the dignity of labor and the sacredness present in every day life — to routines which will seem tedious, but carry quiet endurance.
“To me, seungmu appears like a type of prayer, like a dance through which one utterly lets go of the self,” Jang stated. “As I developed that concept by way of motion and music, it turned a meditation on labor and the that means of real devotion.”
All through the efficiency, the perspiration, breath and shared vitality turn into important components, embodying each toil and transcendence.
At one level, the dancers seem with security helmets and headlamps. Because the stage darkens, they resemble weary coal miners ending a protracted day underground.
“Residing life is sort of a steady technique of burning your time and vitality all the way down to ashes. It might really feel wasteful, however there’s a sure chic magnificence and sacredness in how folks endure and persist by way of the repetition of labor which will at first appear useless,” stated Jang. “The work is my tribute to that perseverance — to the sweat, tears and energy of dancers, artists and all folks at work.”
“Burnt Providing” premiered in 2016 as a part of “Sweden Connection,” a collaboration between the Korea Nationwide Up to date Dance Firm and Skanes Dansteater, a recent dance firm in Sweden. After three rounds of revisions, the present model was accomplished in 2023 and subsequently acquired the Seoul Arts Award, which acknowledges excellent works supported by the Seoul Basis for Arts and Tradition.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
