Festival gives form to choreographers’ visions

Since its inception, the Dream and Vision Dance Festival has been an opportunity for rising young choreographers to present their latest works.
The 12 choreographers in the festival’s sixth edition, being staged at the Post Theater in the Hongik University neighborhood through Sunday, are 25 to 35 years old, with styles varying from modern to traditional Korean.
“We wanted to give them the freedom to present their best work, whatever it may be,” says Julie Jung, with EO Creative, the festival’s organizers.
Opening the festival Thursday were performances by Kim In-ok of Choi Deresa Dance Company, a dance teacher named Jung Hoon-mok and Lee Kyoung-soon of Madeindance.com.
Three pieces are scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday. Song Jin-ju, with the newly launched Dance Company the Body, is presenting “Buttonhole,” a piece that depicts a world of happiness and fear, one that at times seems large, at other times too small.
Park Jung-sun of the Samsung Dance Company will present “Heuksari Muggeut” (a term used in the card game Go Stop), a traditional Korean dance about hope and the future. Lee So-young will perform “Wedding Steps,” staged with four dancers who examine their lives before marriage.
For Saturday and Sunday, three more pieces are featured. Park Su-jin of Changmuhwa will be presenting the traditional dance “A Side,” addressing a person’s shadowy other half. Ms. Park explains the dance by saying, “There’s a different person on my back, but until someone told me, I didn’t know. I had never seen my back.”
Yoo Sun-sik’s “Join,” performed with five others, is about being an outcast in society. He wishes to belong, but also wonders if he fears and loathes society. And Min Sun-young will be presenting “Light Green” (Yeondu), a piece about spring, first love and hope. While Ms. Min has an established history as a dancer, this is the first time a piece she choreographed is being staged.
Over the years, this festival has become a launch pad for up-and-coming choreographers. “We look for talented young artists with vision, and we give them an opportunity,” says Ms. Jung.
Three choreographers from the festival’s first round ― Kim Eun-hee, Park Ho-bin and Kim Yoon-kyu ― have become established choreographers. Kim Eun-hee, for one, is performing at the upcoming Modern Dance Arts Festival at the LG Arts Center.
More recently, Lee So-young, who choreographed “Wedding Step,” performed a duet by Jung Young-doo, “Craving for More” at Dream and Vision 2003. Subsequently, Mr. Jung submitted the piece to the Yokohama Dance Collection, where it won first place.

by Joe Yong-hee

Tickets are 15,000 ($13) won. For more information, visit www.ticketpark.com.