2021 Washington International Gala Choreographer
THE LINE OF SCENE
Choreographyer: Jeong Hyeong-Il
Contemporary Ballet of Asia
(South Korea)
Jeong Hyeong-Il
The lively lines created by Kim Hong-do’s brush touch met ballet. And the line of the scene asked the ballet. What is a dance? Now the ballet returns to the dance itself and answers with a new scene on stage. The various lines produced by the ballerina’s body have been pursued as a competitive tool rather than the essence of ballet. The line of uniform movement and distorted essence that has been practiced over and over again for university entrance. For the change of the essence, I now try to change standardized frame and regain my identity. Even the ballet bar, which relied heavily on every difficult moment of the journey toward a dream, that you can dance freely after a certain distance. For the amusements we have longed for, we only interact with the stage and are immersed in our body, standing alone on the stage at the apex of supersensory reactions. A single white dance floor and ballerina on three angle stages. It reveals its own presence with only one body without background and props. Even moments that do not move become attractive subjects and the stage is crystallized. The body does not have brilliant colors, but it will only be a mise-en-scene on the stage and will only ask and answer the dance.
Jeong Hyeong-Il Ballet Creative, the resident group of the Osan Culture & Arts Center, is an organization that continues the contemporary ballet work centered on the art director Jeong Hyeong-il. It embodies minimal and sophisticated stages and images to maximize the aesthetic composition of ballet, and features unique movements of Jeong Hyeong-il, emphasizing the structural beauty of the human body. Recently, he has added new imagination to the five positions that are the basis of ballet position, reinterpreting the character of swan in classical ballet works, and building the unique world of his work. The work of the ballet’s history and present on stage is naturally linked to the sophisticated movements that contemporary ballet can show and this work reflects the origin of dance, the inner side of human beings, and the profile of this society. Jeong Hyeong-il Ballet Creative aims to continuously develop a repertoire with a balance of artistry, artwork and popularity, and aims to be the center of the contemporary ballet network. The company hosted the Contemporary Ballet of Asia Festival, Co.B.A, which is a platform festival for Asian contemporary ballet choreographers and artists in 2019.
Crane Dance in Spring
Dance Theater of Busan National Gugak Center
Choreographer: Jung, Shin Hye, Lee Seong Hune
(South Korea)
Dongnae Hakchum (Crane Dance) is derived from the Dongnae Deotbaegi Chum (extemporary dance movements) which was often performed by Han-ryang(flankers of upper class) of the Dongnae region. The Dongnae region was frequented by a lot of pleasure-seekers who enjoyed entertainment and natural hot springs. Most residents of Dongnae were good at singing and dancing, and fond of enjoying various various entertainment. Dongnae was naturally rich with a playful culture. Dongnae Hakchum may have been the result of such a culture of Dongnae, and independent dance created by some flaneurs, skilled in dancing, often got together for Nolimadang (outdoor performances) and Sarangbang (reception room) dance. Even though the Dongnae Hakchum is a folklore dance.
The performers were called dignified dancers who had good characters and a full scholarship with degrees, along with an aesthetic and artistic sense. It is called a Hakchum not because the dance imitates cranes, but because its movements symbolically bear the figures of a trance. It is characterized by elegant and refined dance movements, Baegimsawe(extemporary dance movements) and the symbolism of dance movements. It’s performers used to dance solo, but now dance in a group. They wear white trousers and Jeogori (Korean-Style jacket), and white Dopo(Korean-Style / Korea-full-dress attire overcoat), outdoor garments of Yang-ban(nobleman). They perform to Gutgeri Jangdan (Korean folk rhythm with middle tempo in Gyeonggi province) with the accompaniment of Samul percussion instruments-Jing (large brass gong), Gwaeinggwari (small brass gong), But (a half size of folk barrel drum), and Janggo (hourglass-shaped drum)and vocal utterance as well.
Bundle.Erosio.
Choreographer / Performer: Zuozhong Zhu
(China)
Music:
I Am Sorry by Yan Shao
Luclie by Ke Ding
In the “real society”, is it a red balloon that remains hot and upward and a black balloon that is eroded and assimilated by social pressures. The rope under his feet restrains his advancement, hoping that after he enters the society, he can still keep the original passionate heart from being assimilated.
Zhu Zuozhong is a BFA in dance student from the Conservatory of Guizhou University. His work has been selected to present at the Guangdong Modern Dance Festival and Hunan Changsha Lu Contemporary Art Festival. As a performer, he has performed in the 2018 China CCTV New Year Gala, 2019 Xing Dance Theater Choreography Showcase, and Guizhou Outstanding Folk Dance Showcase. He has won third place in the Guizhou Choreography Competition, in the Guizhou University Choreography Competition he won second place in 2019 and first place in 2020, and received full scholarship to the 2019 Xing Dance Theater Modern Dance Workshop in Taiyuan.
In Pursuit of P
by Stella & Artists
(Macau)
Choreographer: Stella Ho
Performer: Lou Choi Ieng, Lao Mei Wa, Phoebe Tong, Rachel Lei, Veronica Cheong, Vicky Cheang
Stella Ho
Life is a continuous process in pursuit of P, whereas P can stand for perfection, pleasance or present. And this dance work is inspired by the different circular movements of Classical Chinese Dance, which leads to its unique philosophy of ever pursuing the state of being complete and perfect.
Music:
Recomposed, Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, by Max Richter: by Max Richter , Daniel Hope, Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin , André de Ridder
Video production: Generator Stage Event Production Limited
Photographers: Chi, Erik Tam
As founder and artistic director of “Stella & Artists”, Stella Ho has taken part in production, administration, choreographing and training for the company. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cross-disciplinary Arts from National Taiwan University of Arts and a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration from University of Macau. She finished the 3-year choreography course provided by the Macao Conservatory Dance School in 2004. She has collaborated with artists namely Amy Marshall (USA), Jacek Luminski (Poland), Alexandra Battaglia (Portugal), Ku Ming Shen (Taiwan), Yuri Ng, Mui Cheuk Yin and Xing Liang from Hong Kong. Stella started to organize the Solos/Duets Showcase every year since 2013, which was then expanded to be “Contemporary Dance and Exchange (CDE) Springboard” in 2017. In 2014, she co-choreographed the contemporary dance program “Revival” with Alexandra Battaglia, which was staged at the 25th Macao Arts Festival. In 2017, she was invited to choreograph for the dance performance of the opening ceremony of Macao Light Festival 2017. Other major choreographic works of Stella include Sculpturesque Beauty, Beauties of Dunhuang and Robot Fairy, which had been staged at the International Youth Dance Festival, Macao Arts Festival and Macao City Fringe Festival respectively.
TANGLE
Choreographer / Performer:
Naoko Tozawa , Shun Sugimoto
Kinetic Art (Japan)
Music: Skizofrénia , Equimoze by
Jonas DUFRÊNE
By metaphorically employing a piece of rope to portray the interconnectivity of events around us tangling and untangling, the piece draws an inspiration from an English proverb “It takes two to tango.” (Meaning that both parties are responsible.) and refers to it with a pun “It takes two to tangle.” With the addition of a piece of rope to further complicate Kinetic Art’s signature acrobatic contact dance, the piece aims to pose a question of how a person decides to exist in the fluctuation of situations, environments, and connections to others. The piece is an excerpt from a longer show. TANGLE is also available in 45 min format and with a live music session with a composer violinist Jonas Dufrêne.
Naoko : After 13 years of experience in competitive rhythmic gymnastics, Nao turned her attention to breakdance which she was crowned world champion in We B*Girlz 2012, subsequently winning world champion in international street dance competition Juste Debout in Experimental Dance in 2016. Nao now focuses to bring her unique style of dance in theatres and circus. Selected works, Kohei Nawa & Damien Jalet “VESSEL”, Jung Young Doo “無・音・花 Silent Flower”, Cie S’poart “Butterfly”, Cie FLOWCUS “SOURCES”
Shun : With his background in breakdance and yoga, Shun competed in the urban dance scene throughout his teenage. After graduating from Central Saint Martins with a degree in the arts, Shun has worked professionally with international circus companies such as Cirque du Soleil and many others with his unique style of dance mixing acrobatics and flexibility. Notable works include Cirque du Soleil special events, Sadler’s Wells Breakin’ Convention, and performances of his solo acts internationally in show venues and circus ensembles such as Limbo, Blanc de Blanc, and The Box UK.
Kinetic Art : Kinetic Art is a dance troupe from Japan founded in 2011. Started as a collective of unique breakdancers with strengths in flexibility and creativity beyond conventional movements, Kinetic Art has developed a style often described as somewhere in between breakdance, contortion and partnering dance. Since its inception, Kinetic Art has worked in and out of the hip hop scene, in circus, theatres and experimental dance. Selected works: Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain : Arte TV award, Cirque du Soleil’s One Night For One Drop, FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Stilt
(Excerpt)
Huajin Dance Drama Ensemble
Choreographer: Shimiao Xing, Liya Zhou, Zhen Han
(China)
Music: Ming Fang
Scenic: Guangjian Gao
Lighting: Xiaofeng Sha
Costume:Qiuping Wang
Make up: Jianrong Li
Photo: Huajin
Opera Warriors comes from the creative team behind the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, and its credits include choreographer Xing Simiao and Hong Kong playwright Pik Wah Li, who wrote the screenplay for the film Farewell My Concubine, winner of the Gold Palm award at Cannes. Combining elements of Chinese dance, ballet and contemporary dance, and theatre, it tells a story about a Beijing opera company in northern China in the early 20th century.
CASITA
PrioreDance
Choreographer: Robert J Priore
(USA)
Music: Lau Ma al Mahaba by A-Wa, Ya Has by Bachar Mar-Khalife
Robert J Priore
Robert J. Priore founded his company PrioreDance in the fall of 2016. He is also very proud to be a founding member of Company | E, where he has had the honor of dancing works by Ohad Naharin, Andrea Miller, Sharon Eyal, Rachel Erdos, Roni Koresh, Marco Cantalupo and Thomas Noone. Robert continues to hone his craft while being the Choreographer-in-Residence for the CityDance Conservatory as well as an Ignite Artist. Robert received a BFA in dance from Point Park University. Robert was a 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project andcreated a special work for the artists of Company | E, Speak Easy. Speak Easy has been on the road, being presented in collaboration with Company | E, in Russia, Azerbaijan, Cuba and most recently in Ukraine.
In 2016, 2017 and 2018 Robert also was named an outstanding fellow in the arts in his home of the District of Columbia. Last November, Robert presented a new work at the Dance Gallery Festival in New York City, being named one of the three Level-Up commissioned choreographers. In January of 2017, Robert held a workshop at La Fábrica in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and set a work on local professionals. In April of 2017, Robert traveled to Holguin, Cuba to set an original work on the dancers of CoDanza. In Fall of 2017, Robert returned to Holguin with fellow dancer Abby Leithart to perform the premier of Casita with CoDanza at the Vladimir Malakhov Grand Prix, where the piece won the audience choice award. In July of 2018, PrioreDance was chosen to perform Priore’s choreography at the InsideOut Stage at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow. In September 2018, Robert and five dancers returned to Holguin to present excerpt of Cirque De Nuitfor the Vladimir Malakhov Grand Prix. Most recently, Robert was commissioned to create a work for the Mark Twain Prize Award Ceremony, which was nationally televised on PBS mid-November 2018. Robert was awarded the Pola Nirenska Memorial Award in 2019 for outstanding contribution to art in the District of Columbia, which is given to one dance artist per year.
The Autumn Moon
University Student Dance Community Selection
Shanxi Industrial and Commercial University
Choreographer: Guorui Ren, Xingrong Zhou, Liwei Wang
(China)
The inspiration of the Autumn Moon is based on a Chinese ancient poetry by Bai Li
Folk-song-styled-verse
A SIGH FROM A STAIRCASE OF JADE
Her jade-white staircase is cold with dew；
Her silk soles are wet， she lingered there so long……
Behind her closed casement， why is she still waiting，
Watching through its crystal pane the glow of the autumn moon？
A Man’s Requiem
Busan Metropolitan Dance Company
(South Korea)
Choreographer: Bruce KIM Yongchul
Bruce Yongchul, KIM is a choreographer and teaching artist based in South Korea. He holds a B.A. in Dance from KeiMyung University, a M.A. in Dance and a Ph.D. from Sejong Graduate School University. He currently is the Artistic Director of SEOP Dance Company, South Korea.
A Man’s Requiem combines both traditional and contemporary Korean dance. The show develops over four parts and explores themes related to death, judgment, and what follows. To call it delightful would belie the deep and complex elements in the piece, and to call it exhilarating would contradict the moments of meditative calm throughout as well. It is both of those things, though, and more. In addition to physical movement, the production relies on sound (music by Kim Young-Dong and Eiji Matsumoto), facial expressions, color, light, flowing fabrics, and yes, even crinkling paper to create a delicately paced and evocative experience. The whole piece, lasting a little over an hour, builds gradually toward the moment of death and release, offering a visually stunning, richly textured, and wholly immersive experience for the audience. – by Lydia Lunning
Yên Lam
Choreographer: Đỗ Hải Anh – Hà Lộc
(Vietnam）
Dancer: Đỗ Hải Anh – Hà Lộc – Như Ý
Đỗ Hải Anh Starting her dance career from a very young age, 2012 Do Hai Anh won the Silver Award of Korea International Modern Dance Competition (KIMDC 2012) with flying colors. 2015 She is the champion of So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam. She opened Saigon Contemporary & Ballet Dance Company (SCBC Vietnam) 2016 and Unicorn Dance Academy in the same year to complete her dream of sharing dance passion to the young generation. 2020 Hai Anh has been honored by inclusion in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list.
Hà Lộc
Working as the contemporary Choreographer in Saigon Contemporary & Ballet Dance Company (SCBC Vietnam) in Ho Chi Minh City, Hà Lộc always considers himself extremely lucky to have received many chances to participated in the International Dance Festival in many years. Hà Lộc is also known as the runner-up of So You Think You Can Dance Vietnam 2015. 2019 Hà Lộc Won the First Prize of Choreography in KOAF Contemporary Competition organized by French Institut and won the full scholarship to Cite de art de Paris – France.
Water. Fire.
Xing Dance Theater
Choreographer: Allen Chunhui Xing
（USA)
Performer: Huiwang Zhang, Laurie Dodge, Shawn Stone, Allen Chunhui Xing
Lighting Designer: Brandi Martin
Projection Designer: Dylan Uremovich
Scenic Designer: Ryan Fox, Grace Guarniere
Sound Designer: Jeffrey Dorfman
Music: Palmistry by Tala Matrix, Fletcher by Senking
Photo: Tina Leu, Jonathan Hsu
Allen Chunhui Xing
Water. Fire. is excerpt from a evening production Equinox and Solstice, it Combines Chinese Classical dance and Modern dance to create my unique aesthetic. It is an after-life world following the theory of the circle of life in Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. It starts from death and follows the soul after death through the journey to start a new life again. There are four main sections that follow the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter in terms to design elements, with the Equinox and Solstice representing the lightest and darkest days of the year. The five elements from Chinese Fengshui theory, water, fire, wood, gold and earth, are used to highlight the Chineseness in this piece.
Allen Chunhui Xing, dancer and choreographer based in Baltimore, USA holds a BFA in Dance from Shanxi Academy of Arts, a M.Ed. from Salisbury University, and a MFA in Dance from University of Maryland. He is the Artistic Director of Xing Dance Theater, XDT Education, and City Dance Festival. He is a former member of Huajin Dance Drama Ensemble where he performed internationally. Recently, he has worked with several dance companies locally and performed as the soloist with Busan Korea Metropolitan Dance Company. His work has been invited and selected to perform nationally and internationally including at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Dance Gallery NYC, Peabody Spring Dance Showcase, Global Perspectives Festival, Maryland Dance Festival, Beijing Dance Festival, Japan SAI International Dance Festival, Finland International Gala, Mexico International Contemporary Dance Festival, Asian Contemporary Ballet Festival, and Seoul Choreography International Festival. Xing is the 2020 Maryland State Independent Artist Award awardee.
City Dance Festival -2019 Taiyuan International Choreography Showcase
Longcheng Theater
Taiyuan, China
Coherence
Choreographer: Laurie Dodge
(USA)
Dancers: Laurie Dodge, Yang Liu
Lighting Designer: Dylan Uremovich
Laurie Dodge
The Wild, Being
Choreographer: Shawn Stone
(USA)
Lighting Designer: Dylan Uremovich
Shawn Stone
Bingzhou Group
Choreographer: Huiwang Zhang
(USA/China)
Lighting Designer: Dylan Uremovich
Huiwang Zhang
Huiwang Zhang began his theater career in Beijing where he worked with the People’s Republic of China’s pioneering underground Paper Tiger Theatre and China Opera & Dance Drama Theater. His conceptual bilingual research examines mass hysteria, 60s paranoia, and the materialization of ideology through the collective body. He received an MFA from Utah University and studied Choreography at Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden under the mentorship of Katharina Christl. Since his relocation to the States, he has had the honor of working with people like Leah Cox, Jennifer Nugent, Sara Pearson, Patrik Widrig, and Stephen Koester, among others. He is currently a member of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company.
Time Flowing Under The Moonlight
Choreographer: Bruce KIM Yongchul
(South Korea)
Bruce Yongchul, KIM is a choreographer and teaching artist based in South Korea. He holds a B.A. in Dance from KeiMyung University, a M.A. in Dance and a Ph.D. from Sejong Graduate School University. He currently is the Artistic Director of SEOP Dance Company, South Korea.
