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And now it's time for our regular arts and culture segment with Michelle Kim. I hear
that she has a captivating performance to tell us about today. Hello Michelle.
Hello Conn-young.
So what is this performance about?
I don't know if captivating is a good enough word to describe this performance but I'll
take it for now.
The performance is called "Altar" and it stars dancers from the National Dance Company of
Korea in a piece by choreographer Ahn Sung-soo and fashion designer Jung Ku-ho that explores
the tension between the internal and external self.
The word "dan" in Korean contains a wide spectrum of meanings from an altar, a platform or a
position and ranking in society, to the movement of space.
Choreographer Ahn Sung-soo and fashion designer Jung Ku-ho used the word dan as a focal point
for a collaborative work for the National Dance Company of Korea called "Altar," which
runs at the National Theater of Korea until April 14th.
With Ahn's sophisticated choreographic style that combines movements from modern dance,
ballet and traditional Korean dance and Jung's minimalist designs for the costumes, sets
and lighting, the piece attempts to capture the struggle between the internal and external
self.
Jung told Arirang TV how he used light to reflect the performers' inner thoughts.
"If you look at many traditional Korean dances, moonlight is used as the basic lighting theme.
Changes in the lighting can be used to portray the changes in a person's thoughts, and I
used fluorescent lighting as an objet to accompany the dancers' movements and portray the changes
of mind that people go through, and for the staging as well."
"Altar" is presented in three acts.
The first act attempts to show that the idea that body and mind act as one is a delusion.
The dancers act as one another's shadows, reflecting the inner turmoil a person goes
through as they vacillate between thought and action.
The second act shows the progression of the delusion, as the individual struggles to find
peace between the mind and body.
The dancers' internal strife as the struggle to resolve this paradox is reflected in the
choreography and costumes.
The third act summarizes the previous two acts by conveying the individual's effort
to find peace and unity with the body.
Here, the movements are similar to those in act one, but the dancers move in unison, rather
than shadowing one another.
The music that accompanies this intense dance performance is a mix of classical and traditional
Korean sounds resonating with the deep echo of traditional Korean instruments such as
the buk and janggu,
a barrel drum and hourglass-shaped drum, and the kkwaenggwari, a kind of gong, as well
as the spectacular sounds of Richard Wagner's orchestral music.
The National Dance Company of Korea's performance of "Altar" continues at the National Theater
of Korea until April 14th.