Four Masters Open New Paths in Korean Dance: 'Breath of the Masters' at the National Theater
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
Four former artistic directors of the National Dance Company—Bae Jeong-hye, Guk Su-ho, Kim Hyun-ja, and Jo Heung-dong—present signature works in a special series, "Breath of the Masters," at the National Theater (Haeoreum Theater) on Dec 17–18 and 20–21. Each piece reflects a lifetime of practice rooted in Korean dance tradition while exploring contemporary expression. Bae’s "Soul, Sunflower" (2006) fused Korean dance feeling with live German jazz; Guk’s "Sky of Tibet" revisits themes of suffering and cyclical life, originally created during the IMF crisis and requiring intense cross-training in ballet and modern dance; Kim’s "Gazing at Plum Blossoms" personifies nature’s rhythms—plum, wind, moon—and recalls her provocative, boundary-pushing career; Jo’s "Time of Wind," inspired by hanryangmu (a nobleman’s dance motif), distills decades of training into a reflective work. All four stress the need to respect tradition’s breathing while imagining Korean dance’s future, arguing that real innovation must grow from tradition rather than merely imitating foreign modern dance. Tickets 20,000–70,000 KRW.
