ACF 1272: Yoo & Dancers to perform "160 MILES" December 16th & 17th

160 Miles

Yoo & Dancers

When: December 16 & 17, 2011 @ 8:00 PM

Where: Dance New Amsterdam Theater

280 Broadway (enter on Chambers Street), Manhattan, NY

On December 16th and 17th at 8:00 PM, Yoo and Dancers will take the stage at Dance New Amsterdam for a full evening performance that is described as “A solemn and haunting representation of domination that is modern and provocative,” (Karen Clements, Reporter - Jamaica Examiner). Yoo & Dancers is an exciting and vibrant dance company that uses the diversity, and cultural differences of its dancers to create experiences, well-developed and fine movements.

In 160 Miles, Choreographer Hee Ra Yoo, depicts how a single individual ruling through fear severely affect the lives of millions. As the world prepares for the third dictator to take power over North Korea since the Korean War, the dancers will take you on a breath taking journey on how the North Korean quality of life diminishes as dictatorial control grows.

Tickets for the performance are $17 general, $14 students/seniors, $12 DNA/ The Korea Society members and advance price.

To purchase tickets, please 212.227.9856 or visit www.yooanddancers.com

ACF 1213: World premiere of "Here Now" by WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company at MAD

 "Here Now"

WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company

When: Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5
7:00 PM both evenings

Where: The Theater at MAD
Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)
Jerome and Simona CHazen Building
2 Columbus Circle, NYC

$25 general / $15 MAD members and students

Exploring the turbulence of human emotions, Brooklyn based WHITE WAVE Young Soon Kim Dance Company will present the world premiere of "Here Now." In collaboration with composer Marco Cappelli and filmmaker Anna Kiraly, Young Soon Kim choreographed the work by weaving together panoramic video images of wild rivers and Manhattan streets, original music performed on guitars and fluid dramatic movement. In this way, she and her collaborators showcase the ability of multidisciplinary dance to convey the complexities of human experience.

Click here to purchase tickets, or call 1.800.838.3006
For more information, visit MAD’s Web site.

ACF 486: Masks of Night exhibition opens at The Korea Society (NY) tonight

Masks of Night

Faces from Traditional Korean Dance-Dramas

Just a reminder that the Opening Reception for The Korea Society's exhibition of masks used in Korean dance-dramas will be tonight, Thursday, March 4th, 2010 from 6:00 - 8:30 PM.

Evolved from ancient shamanic rituals into a form of popular theater, these dance-dramas were performed both at the Korean royal court and throughout the countryside. The exhibition will run from March 4th through May 28th, 2010. The gallery should prove perfect for an intimate experiencing of these objects from Korea's cultural past.

Also keep in mind that next month, on Thursday, April 1st, 2010, there will be a Gallery Talk entitled Korean Masked Dance-Drama: Enchanted Fertility Rite and Social Satire. Theresa Ki-ja Kim, Professor Emeritus, Department of theatre Arts, SUNY Stony Brook, will speak on "how Korea's unique tradition of masked dance-dramas masterfully blended fertility rite, social satire, and popular entertainment."

Gallery Talk on Thursday, April 1, 2010

6:00 PM - 6:30 Pm - Registration and Reception

6:30 PM - 8:00 PM - Presentation and Q&A

Register for the Gallery Talk online at http://www.koreasociety.org/, or for more information contact Heewon Kim at 212.759.7525, ext 355 or heewon.ny@koreasociety.org.

Gallery Hours

March 4, 2010 - May 28, 2010

Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

The Korea Society

950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor

(Building entrance on SW Corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street

ACF 168: In-Young Sohn Dance Company

IN-YOUNG SOHN’S NOW DANCE COMPANY PUTS A CONTEMPORARY TWIST ON TRADITIONAL KOREAN DANCE

Here's an announcement that I just received and thought might be of interest:

New York, NY—October 20, 2008—Energetically mixing the traditional steps of ancient shamans and peasants with the stark, cool movements of modern Korea, choreographer In-Young Sohn and the NOW Dance Company will present Tradition & Its Changes at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts on Friday, October 24, 2008.

The eight dance routines of Tradition & Its Changes are drawn from over a thousand years of Korean history. They include a traditional palace dance performed by a troupe of female dancers who swoop and swirl while skillfully wielding stylized swords, as well as the munyomu, a ritual dance traditionally performed by Korean shamans in order to lift them to a higher state of consciousness. Throughout the performance, the dances are infused with new rhythms and movements that capture the vitality of contemporary Korean choreography. The performance reaches its climax with kabae, an exuberant, 25-minute farmers' dance meant to celebrate the harvest.

This performance marks the third leg of a four-city tour organized by The Korea Society, a non-profit organization which, among its activities, sponsors Korean performing arts tours around the country. Following Tradition & Its Changes’ successful debut at Synod Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the group delighted over 300 audience members with music and dance on October 19, the show travels to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York today, October 21.

After the performance at NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts (presented by the World Music Institute) on October 24, the tour closes at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island on October 25 (presented by the Korean–American Association of Rhode Island).

In-Young Sohn is the founder and artistic director of the Seoul-based NOW Dance Company, which has performed traditional and contemporary Korean dance around the world since 1992. A former member of the Korean Traditional National Dance Company and former artistic director of the Seoul Performing Arts Company, Sohn holds an MA in arts education from Columbia University.

The Tradition & Its Changes tour is organized and sponsored by The Korea Society, a New York City-based private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea.

Info and tickets for the October 24th performance in New York City here.

A video clip of "Tradition & Its Changes" and a downloadable PDF of the Program Notes are also available at the bottom of the linked page.