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Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre's 'Ilmu' wins a top New York performance award

Published: 21 Jan. 2026, 18:34 Updated: 21 Jan. 2026, 19:25

KIM MIN-YOUNG
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A 2023 performance of ″One Dance″ by the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre in New York [HWANG PIL-JOO]

"Ilmu," otherwise known as “One Dance,” the flagship repertoire of the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre from the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, won the Outstanding Choreographer/Creator prize at the New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessies, on Tuesday.

With the win, "Ilmu" became the first production by a Korean national or public arts organization to receive a Bessie Award. The dance is a staple of the company’s repertoire, featuring tightly synchronized group choreography.

The Bessies are the most prestigious awards in New York’s dance and performance scene, recognizing the artists and works behind the most innovative achievements among productions staged in the city each year.

"Ilmu" was named one of four winners out of 12 nominees, alongside Nia Love, former Batsheva Dance Company member Shamel Pitts and Wanjiru Kamuyu.

The Bessies selection committee described "Ilmu" as a visually mesmerizing Korean traditional ritual dance reinterpreted with a contemporary sensibility, saying it showed perfect harmony of stillness in motion while reaching a climax with explosive, dynamic movement.

A 2023 performance of ″One Dance″ by the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre in New York [AHN HYO-JIN]

“One Dance contains the spirit of people who endured together with one heart toward a single goal,” choreographer Jeong Hye-jin said. “I think this is the result of the trust we built while enduring that time and believing in one another, and of the time so many people have spent working together.”

“This win proves that the creative capacity the Sejong Center has accumulated as a producing theater is valid even by global standards,” said Ahn Ho-sang, the president of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. “It is a symbolic moment showing that the repertoire strategy we built through selection and concentration has entered the center of contemporary global arts discourse beyond Korea.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]