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| Sun Ock Lee |
By Lee Hyo-won
Internationally acclaimed dancer-choreographer Sun Ock Lee would like to welcome members of the foreign community to take part in meditation through the art of dance at the ZenDance Museum in Seoul. The classes are open-run and by reservation only.
For over 40 years, Lee has been teaching and performing throughout Europe, North America and Asia. She has been hailed as "one of the world's greatest Korean modern dance choreographers in the 20th century" by Cherif Khaznadar, former president of La Maison des Cultures du Monde, Paris, and is widely renowned in her native Korea as well as the United States for the extraordinary dance form she created in New York in 1972 based on the mastery of the mind-and-body techniques of Korean ZenDance (SunMu or "seonmu").
Combining elements of Korean ritual dance and song with modern dance techniques, "Dr. Lee has often wedded Zen meditative practices to Western modern dance and new music, fashioning with admirable creativity, a dance genre of her own," said Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times. She has performed and taught ZenDance at esteemed theaters and universities around the world, and her repertoires are permanently preserved at the Lincoln Center's New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The upcoming sessions will be a rare chance to learn the moves from the master herself.
Having studied under greats such as Yi Mae-bang and Martha Graham, Lee received her Doctor of Arts at New York University in 1984, the first Asian woman to have done so. She has held numerous teaching positions in the U.S. and in Asia for students and working professionals for over 40 years. Lee is also the secretary general of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Performing Arts Network (APPAN) and organizes workshops and festivals.
The ZenDance (SunMu) Museum is located in the serene woods at the foot of Mount Bugak in Pyeongchang-dong, northern Seoul, and provides a break away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Anyone, including those new to dance or meditation, is welcome to experience ZenDance.
ZenDance is not only an aesthetically beautiful art form but is "meditation in movement." Inspired and developed for well-being in our contemporary environment, ZenDance has been Lee's ultimate brainchild ― a hybrid of Zen and dance meant for public performance, daily practice, and stress reduction for people of all ages.
Classes will be limited to five-10 people per session, and by reservation only. Depending on weather conditions, classes will be held either outdoors on a deck overlooking a breathtaking mountainous view (10 people) or indoors in the cozy dance studio (five people).
For inquiries, e-mail sonmuga@hanmail.net or call 010-2325-1014. For more information, visit www.zendance.org and www.appan.co.kr.
Lee-Hyo-won is a former staff reporter for The Korea Times, and previously served as Korea bureau chief of fine arts media company Blouin Artinfo. She is currently the Seoul correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter and Monocle.
