A Festival Of Korean Dance 2021 Will Be Presented Next Month

As the country unlocks and live performance returns to London, Korean dancers will once again make the journey to the UK and take to the stage at The Place. A Festival of Korean Dance will introduce London audiences to Company SIGA, one of the most talented up-and-coming dance companies in their home country, and present a world premiere of a new full length show from Sung Im Her, a London-based Korean choreographer who draws experience from living in Korea, Belgium and the UK. A festival of parallels and opposites, the pieces explore balance, individuality and belonging, and the physical limits of the human body before falling back to zero. Continuing the partnership between The Place, Korean Cultural Centre UK and the Korea Arts Management Service, the festival is now in its fourth edition, having previously showcased the works of Jin Yeob Cha, choreographer of the 2018 Winter Olympics ceremonies, and Art Project Bora.

The Festival opens with Sung Im Her's W.A.Y (RE-WORK) (17 - 18 Sept), and followed by a double bill of Company SIGA's Equilibrium and ZERO (23 - 24 Sept).

Pertinent after a long period of time reflecting on being alone and being together, W.A.Y (RE-WORK) is a piece about the tension between the need for individuality and the longing to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Uncompromisingly intense, both for the dancers and the viewer, the work cycles through a myriad of psychological and social geometries, illustrating our uncertainty and fear, but also joy and sense of growth when addressing this tension in our lives. Sung Im Her trained in Korea and is now London-based. She lived for several years in Belgium, performing with companies including Les Ballets C de la B and Needcompany, and choreographing for Abattoir Fermé. Her new work, performed by four dancers and one live musician, has music from Belgian composer Husk Husk. She has previously performed at The Place in her sell-out show Nutcrusher, and was commissioned by Counterpoint Arts to create site-specific work Human Wall for Refugee Week at the V&A Museum in 2018.

Performed as a double bill, Equilibrium is a duet playing on the ideas of balance, and ZERO is a beautifully crafted piece for six dancers. In Equilibrium, Company SIGA performers express their evolved selves in relation to nature and the human persona that have gone through infinite cycles of equilibrium and chaos. In Zero, they showcase the ecstasy of moving towards a higher level of freedom, exceeding physical limitations, before returning back to "ZERO".

Company SIGA are one of the most talented up and coming companies in Korea. SIGA is an acronym combining the two Korean words, "i?oee??e??e?oe [sinabro]", which means 'little by little' and "e??i??i-? [gaseume]" which means 'into the heart'. The company practice a democratic working style that puts the movements and thoughts of all members together into one complete piece of art. Company SIGA keep 'Speed', 'Basic' and 'Body' as the main three keywords of their group dance pieces, creating natural pace and flow.

Eddie Nixon, Artistic Director at The Place says "We're delighted to be partnering with our friends at the Korean Cultural Centre and the Korea Arts Management Service to bring the best of the rich Korean dance scene to London once again. Both Sung Im Her and Company SIGA have, in different ways, intense, hypnotic styles of choreography and we're so pleased that audiences in London will get to experience this live."

Jungwoo Lee, Director at the Korean Cultural Centre UK says "We're delighted about bringing back some of Korea's foremost contemporary dance companies to The Place again and having a live festival in London this year. Company SIGA and Sung Im Her are very excited to perform in front of UK audiences at the festival. We hope that our dance festival will give UK audiences an opportunity to meet the incredible talent that exists within Korea's contemporary dance scene.

Doil Kim, Korea Arts Management Service President says "We very much appreciate the efforts of The Place, the Korean Cultural Centre UK, and the respective artists who have worked so hard to introduce Korean contemporary dance to UK audiences despite the on-going Covid-19 global crisis. These artists have continued to adapt and develop even when the possibility for performance was restricted. I hope that the showcases of Sung Im Her and Company SIGA send a hopeful message to Londoners about the re-opening of live theatre.

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