Korean modern dancers have for some time followed Martha Graham's style of dance quite closely, using her as a textbook example of what truly embodies modern dance. In the 1960's, Yook Wan-soon, who studied dance in the United States, introduced Graham's techniques to the Korean dance world. Since that time the Graham style, as interpreted by Yook, has remained the mainstream style of Korea's modern dance, almost without exception.


In the 1980's, Lee Jung-hee, who studied under Jose Limon, opened the post-Graham era on the Korean dance stage. At the same time, Nam Jeong-ho first introduced a French style of modern dance to the nation. These developments resulted in a surge of interest in modern dance which led to an explosion of modern dance performances in Korea. The French style showed that satire, irony and playfulness can all be harmonized on the dance stage. A new wave in Korean modern dance arose and the "seriousness of lightness" trend brought about the popularization of dance. An era of a great variety of dance styles began with Korean stages suddenly abounding in passionate and vivid performances.

Due to Nam Jeong-ho's efforts, the range of creative modern dance has been widened and more and more dancers regard the new spirit of playfulness and satire in dance as a sign of their creativity. Ahn Eun-me displayed the free style of New York, Hong Sung-yop combined reason with emotion, Choi Sang-cheol expressed satire with delight, and Kim Sam-jin dealt with absurdity in his own unique style. This spirit of playfulness and satire was in essence the outburst of desires repressed under the old social and political systems. James Jeon, resident choreographer of the Seoul Ballet Theater choreographed a series of works which demonstrated this trend.


Bing Bing

Bing Bing (round and round) is one of more recent works of Ahn Eun-me, which was first performed at the Munye Theater. This production begins with the calm and solemn playing of a wind instrument. Suddenly, a loud sound is heard from the audience and many dancers dressed in rags and wearing clumsy make-up proceed to the stage. They throw balls into the audience, who are surprised and delighted at the suddenness of the situation. After this unusual beginning, the audience loosens up and its curiosity is piqued as to what will take place next. However, in contrast to the playful start, the choreographer and dancers carefully progress toward an denouement that is not quite so merry or light.

The Secret Garden by Bang Hee-seon

Ahn Eun-me, who appears almost nude, wearing only thin underwear, hangs like a dead body suspended by a rope that is lowered from the ceiling. She looks as if she has been beaten or tortured. Her body spins under the rope and a painful groan is heard. But soon, a dozen dancers appear on the stage one by one, laughing wildly and dancing in a cheerful, carefree manner. The stage is full of joyfulness. Dancers bend their bodies and creep like worms across the stage, then they rise to their feet and dance with excited movements. It is sometimes difficult for the audience to clearly understand the choreographer's intention but the composition is extraordinary in any case.



After the dancers' cheerful movements, Ahn Eun-me appears on the stage alone. Kim Dae-hwan's percussion instruments lead a cacophonous symphony, which includes the traditional Kayagum string sounds, Ahn Eun-me's dance is so rough and severe that it seems as if she might harm herself.

The silent language of dance creates a sad feeling from the artist's solitary struggle. Her energy is gradually exhausted through because of the painful movement of her naked body. She expresses human sorrow as they live in tight relationships in the world as the body hangs from a rope. In this production, Ahn Eun-me, deals with basic human emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure and tries to depict all of them with subtle movements of her own body in this and other works.


Monkey in Blue Clothes

Monkey in Blue Clothes, choreographed by Hong Sung-yop, represents a conte made by adults who long for a fairy tale world. Dancers dressed as monkeys merrily dancing to "Snging in the Rain" open the show with a light, cheerful mood. A male dancer wearing a funny grey coat with a tail appears on the stage soon followed by his partner. The relationship between the two is both absurd and ludicrous, and therefore hilarious. One holds up a sign painted with yellow lines symbolizing a country while the other picks up a red cloth symbolizing the sun. He lays the red cloth on a tree branch. Civilization and the ecosystem in danger are expressed by the dancers through comic displays slapstick movements, such as walking on their hands and rolling all around the stage. Through this play, the audience is not doubt amused but they may leave with the strange feeling that they have been invited to a "kingdom of animals."

Percussion instruments provide subtle sound effects in this well constructed work. Dancers display the contrast between conventional and unconventional movements to create a unified whole.


The Stranger

Kim Sam-jin usually borrows her motifs from Korean novels. In this work, she took its theme from French existentialist writer Albert Camus' novel. When the curtain is raised, a man appears on the stage and ties himself with the heroine Kim Sam-jin. She writhes with pain as she tries to free herself from him. The weird atmosphere is heightened by the sudden appearance of exorcists wearing black mantles. In The Stranger, Kim Sam-jin moves softly and delicately, as befits her nickname, "The Cat," yet the atmosphere of the dance is cold and calculating. She burns her own paper dress before she dances and ashes fly through the air like wandering souls during the performance.

The Stranger choreographed by Kim Sam-jin

The three female dancers who play the shaman role hold an exorcism ritual on the stage, Kim Sam-jin soon joins them in a shamanistic dance. She is surrounded by the three dancers, and tries to escape from them. In the last act, the shamans give Kim an iron chain, with which she ties her own body. The female shamans disappear as ashes are blown by the wind and Kim Sam-jin is caught again by the stranger.


A Bored Woman

A Bored Woman, choreographed by Choi Sang-cheol, was first performed on the stage in 1999. Choi seems to have put a great deal of effort into harmonizing Lim Dong-chang's piano and Henrick Asperson's wind improvisations with dance and tried to give female dancers adequate roles to produce a work that is both humorous and full of variety. During the performance, the pianist wildly pounds the keyboard and beats on the piano while dancers strut about the stage full of explosive energy and movement. When the curtain is raised, four dancers, including Choi Sang-cheol, come to the front of the stage, touch their bodies softly together, bend their bodies, stretch their arms and bound across the stage.

A Flight of Angel by Lee Kwang-seok

The three female dancers satirize life and society. A dancer wearing a light-yellow gauze skirt moves slowly and carefully drawing a square. Another female dancer reveals her sexuality inside a triangular see-through screen. And a dancer wearing deep crimson clothes dances with unpredictable, bold movements, seeming to long for some escape from her boredom. Meanwhile, other dancers engage in a variety of comic performences.

Colorful shoes are strewn across the front stage and hang from a line overhead. Dancers bump into each other, form pairs and dance together. These figures demonstrate the weariness of daily life. What Choi Sang-cheol is trying to express through the three female dancers is the absurdity of material civilization and the secret human desires that are hidden behind the whirl of everyday life. Choi tries to explain that these troubles result from "ennui," the disease of modernity.


Les Lavageuses-Women at the Well

Nam Jeong-ho, who has been solely interested in expressing the theme, "playfulness and satire," performed Les Lavageuses - Women at the Well in the spring of 1993. This work was shown again the following year under the title, "Laundry," and was later shown in New York. When the curtain is raised, five women are gossipping at a village well on a moon-lit night. These women have a gripe; they are tired of waiting until late at night for their husbands to come home. At first, their faces have no expression other than a common weary look. They quickly become close after they find out that they share a common problem. They beat laundry baskets, jump and play around the well and take a bath. Sometimes they quarrel but they reconcile and thoroughly enjoy themselves before returning to their homes.

Monkey in Blue Clothes by Hong sung-yop

This work portrays the full range of women's emotions using the setting of the well as the organizing, common element. Woman, night, water, bathing and laundry produce the image of women at work and at play. Laundry means, both in the Eastern and Western world, the usual way of "killing time" for sleepless women with dreams, boredom and unsatiable desires during the long, starry nights. The well is there for both purification and pleasure; it is a place of solace after the women have been abandoned by their husbands. This theme is brilliantly depicted by the exceptional choreography of Nam Jeong-ho and the artistry of the dancers. The whole first floor of the auditorium is used as a stage and the second and third floors are for the audience. Because of this setting, the audience looks down on the dancers from a high vantage point. The amphitheater-style stage is a room only for women. In this space, women can leave their cares behind and engage in a womanly fellowship. Women at the well play together and sometimes they fight with one another. The well is a small, enclosed society and Nam Jeong-ho tells of the life which can be felt there.

Bored Woman by Choi Sang-cheol

Being series

The Being series choreographed by James Jeon was first staged in 1995 to celebrate the foundation of the Seoul Ballet Theater. The SBT has since presented modern ballet pieces with the basic tenet that "ballet is an evolving art." In this work, dancers experiment with a variety of styles that especially appeal to the younger members of the audience.

Being I focuses on the subject of youthful rebellion. When the curtain is raised, young people wearing black clothes walk across the stage slowly, each making their own peculiar movements. A group of females performs a dance, which is immediately followed by a male dance ensemble. The eight dancers that compose the female group move across the stage with a great energy, in contrast to the seeming lack of cheerfulness and intensity on the part of the male dancers.

While sentimental music plays quietly in the background, a female soloist consoles the audience, while another female dances to the rhythm of percussion instruments. The essence of the work is contained in the final part of the production. Dancers merge and scatter then gather again rapidly before finally forming three lines composed of both male and female performers.

The theme of Being II is "A Life in Confusion" that deals with the frustrations that drive young people to abuse sex and drugs. In the beginning, a saxophone melody of "Amazing Grace" fills the entire theater. The stage shows a warehouse where wooden boxes, tires and scrapped cars are stored. While a couple of dancers enact a love scene, a gunshot is heard. The powerful music and theme of the production strikes a chord with young people. James Jeon expertly mixes rock, jazz, classical ballet, rock'n'roll and even hip hop, to both appeal to the younger generation and to explain their woes.

Being Series by James jeon

Being III, first-performed in 1999, also deals with young people who are looking for a new way of life. It has a more positive theme than the earlier works in the series. A scene of roller-blading dancers who drop from the ceiling thrills the audience. About 20 dancers move busily to create a dynamic stage atmosphere. Set to baroque music, a dancer disguised as an angel drifts in the air, suggesting salvation and redemption.

City Light, choreographed by James Jeon, expresses young people's love and passion for life. It describes the happiness and sorrows of ordinary people's lives, their dreams and hopes, by incorporating Korean traditional songs, "Pumba" (beggar's song) and "Han Obaengnyon," (500 years of sorrow) in the dance.