K-dance drivers make special comebacks: Yoon Hye-jin and Cha Jin-yeop return to the stage
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Seoul’s Gangdong Art Center marks its 15th anniversary with “Choi Tae-ji’s Ballet Open Rehearsal,” staged on August 8 and November 14. Two leading Korean dancers curate separate programs: former National Ballet principal Yoon Hye-jin (46) presents a three-act ballet piece “Rêver: Again, On Stage,” tracing her peak career, a hiatus after marriage and childbirth, and her rediscovery of dance; the finale includes the Monte Carlo Ballet repertory work “Dove la Luna.” Yoon, who danced with the Monte Carlo Ballet, returns to pointe (toe shoes) for the first time in about ten years, encouraged by mentor Choi Tae-ji. In November, contemporary choreographer Cha Jin-yeop (48), now director of the National Contemporary Dance Company, offers a work rooted in his ongoing “Circling Body” project that explores the creative struggle and the shared origins of ballet and modern dance. Cha plans to share his creative process with the audience, inviting them into the performance. (pointe shoes: toe shoes used in classical ballet; Monte Carlo Ballet: the company in Monaco; Choi Tae-ji: prominent Korean ballet artistic director)
