Goreum, Traditional Korean Dance with Jae Seung Kim and Maholra Dance Company
Presented by 92Y

Friday, November 8, 2019, 12pm
Tickets: $15 in advance / $25 at the door
Friday, November 8, 2019, 8pm
Tickets: $25 in advance / $35 at the door
Buttenwieser Hall at 92nd Street Y
(1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128)

Goreum, the ribbon emblazoned on the traditional Korean costume that suggests a hint of the erotic, brings to 92Y the NY debut of female/male duets and solos, elegant and refined, performed by traditional master artists Jae Seung Kim &Maholra Dance Company. The dances express the long history of both Ga (music) and Mu (dance) in Korean culture. This program is guest-curated by Sin Ae Park.

Jae Seung Kim, the Executive Director of Maholra Company, has been acclaimed as “an outstanding dancer and emerging choreographer” whose work strives to “traverse and encompass modern and traditional dance.” Don’t miss the chance to experience this powerful yet delicate art form performed by the Korean masters themselves.

Gentleman is inspired by Hanryang-mu, a traditional Korean male dance performance. The original Korean title of the piece came from the Chinese character Ja (子), which represents a child spreading his arms, indicating “son.” In this piece, the choreographer portrays the life of a man who falls in love with a woman yet remains a son to his mother. Korean traditions are here transformed into modern choreography by analyzing the dancer’s movements and exploring experimental breathing rhythms. The result is a search for the essential aesthetic of Korean dance. This dance reveals the harmony of traditional instrumental melodies and movements created on the principle of jeong-jung-dong (stillness amid movement), that is embedded in traditional Korean culture.

Maholra Company derives its name from a Hebrew word meaning ‘people who dance before God.’ Artistic director and choreographer Jae-seung Kim established Maholra Company in 2007 with the intention of always maintaining the essential sense of dance before God. The company has been deeply involved in the search for an aesthetic of Korean dance and in promoting creative performances. Kim graduated from the School of Dance at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul with bachelor’s and master’s degrees and completed his Ph.D at Dankook University. An outstanding dancer himself, Kim boasts extraordinary dance techniques that traverse and encompass modern and traditional dance. His choreographic works grounded in tradition have gained widespread recognition, earning him the gold medal at the 37th Dong-A Dance Competition in Seoul and selection for the Performance Artists Incubation Program for emerging choreographers, supported by the Arts Council Korea (ArKo) in 2011. As executive director of Maholra Company, Kim has presented a host of intriguing choreographic endeavors including CoreaUra, To Survive, Prayer, Honpuri and Gentleman.

For more information and tickets, please visit www.92y.org/event/fan-goreum