Dance Festival Will Highlight Works Modern And Traditional

Daehakno in the district of Jongno and the mecca for local performing arts will host a biannual dance festival this month. Sponsored in part by the Korean Contemporary Dancers Association, the fourth Choreographer's Festival will feature both contemporary and traditional works by emerging artists. Participants in the festival's official competition, which will run for two days, are mostly original works by young choreographers.

Beginning on Feb. 17 and ending on Feb. 21, the festival will kick off with the official competition. Six dancers will take part, including such artists as Choi Kyung-sil, the award-winning choreographer from the Hamburg International Festival in Germany, and Hong Eun-ju, who contributed a piece at the Millennium Dance Festival in Korea.

Hong Eun-ju's modern dance piece titled "Nangido Blues" is based on elements of Korean traditional dancing. Other works in the competition on Feb. 18 include "Roping Out" by Jang Jung-yun, "Opera and Dance" by Jun Hyo-jin, "Going Together with a Momo" by Lee Kyung-eun and "Voyage" by Ryu Suk-eun.

A highlight of the festival will be a performance on Feb. 20 by the Japanese dance company Baneto, which won first place at the prestigious Bagnolet International Choreography Festival. Founded in 1996 under the name Good Night Adventure by Tauyoshi Shirai, a video producer, and Yasuke Awazu, a musician, the company has since gained a new moniker and international attention.

The festival will close with a night of performances by local veteran choreographers on Feb. 21. Five invited artists will present their latest individual works. Yun Mi-ra, who uses the lantern as a metaphor for a woman desperately waiting for her lover to return, will present "Flower Lantern," and one of Korea's rare professional male dancers, Son Kwang-jung, will perform "Vestige Waiting," filled with bold gestures and poses.

Jo Yun-ra will give a refined ballet performance in "Shadow of Forsaken Memory," and finally, Yun Sung-ju will express poetic moments from her childhood in the work "The Moon."

All performances are at 7:30 p.m. each night and ticket prices range from 10,000 won ($8) to 30,000 won. For more information, contact the Munye Arts Center at 02-325-5702.

by Park Soo-mee