Ewha prof bends the rules in ballet

Cho Gi-suk

Call it ballet with an edge.
“Without any progress, classic ballet will be left as an artifact at a museum,” said Cho Gi-suk. “Contemporary aspects have to be applied and then ballet has to be transformed to become more Korean.”
Cho’s ballet performance was held at a hip-hop club, not in a theater. The music was hip-hop and played to a standing audience. Performer and audience were not separated. Everything was about experimentation and breaking rules. It was the New Ballet-Dance, Joy & Play by Cho, an Ewha Womans University professor.
The show advocating “new ballet” was staged Friday evening at Club M2 in front of Hongik University. The neighborhood is popular with trendy youth, and M2 is one of the clubs with “high water quality,” which in Korea means a well-dressed and attractive crowd.
For the Friday ballet performance the club was packed.
“Instead of presenting ballet as a one-way performance, I wanted to directly communicate and exchange ideas with the younger generation,” Cho said.
The movements were also new. Unlike conventional ballet, in which the body is held somewhat steadily, the new ballet has more radical movement.
The 13 performers in the show do not have rank, which means there was no distinction between the prima ballerina and the extras.
The most impressive part in a typical ballet, the pas dedeux, was changed to a dance with a hip-hop dancer and a ballerina.
Drummer and D.J. Namgung Yeon was responsible for composing the music used in the show.
The 60-minute music plot had three chapters. The first chapter featured minimal techno sound, the second classic and the third Korean rhythm. Everything was played live.
After the performance dancers and the audience became one and danced together. It was not a formal show which required formal attire.
“The show doesn’t assert itself,” Cho said. “There is no huge discussion or ideology. Just the dance itself was presented. The bodies and the movements are filled with philosophy and ideas. It is enough when the audience just enjoys.”
Whether the ballet will bring about innovation is unknown ― but Cho’s challenge will be a stimulus.

By Choi Min-woo JoongAng Ilbo [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]