Representatives from Asian countries take part in a dance symposium, Tuesday, in Seoul. /Courtesy of Seoul Section-CID

By Lee Hyo-won

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with 17 other countries to launch a pan-Asian dance troupe, Tuesday in Seoul.

The agreement was the culminating highlight of the 2010 Asian Dance Symposium, organized by the ministry’s Hub City of Asian Culture Project (HCAC), an initiative to turn Gwangju into a meeting point for artists from near and far.

Representatives of 14 countries ― Korea, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam ― took part in the symposium.

A second meeting is slated to take place in June 2011, for the purpose of forming the Asian Dance Committee (working title). Representatives of India, the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan, who were absent from the Tuesday event, will be requested to attend the upcoming meeting.

The committee will be comprised of 37 members ― two (one dance expert and one government official) from each of the 18 Asian countries. The batch will include member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Countries) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). Korea will have a third committeeperson, a chairperson who will oversee the organization.

The committee will then set out to recruit dancers and organize performances and programs including workshops, festivals and academic seminars.

Last year, the ministry initiated a similar project in which it formed an orchestra featuring traditional folk instrumentalists from Korea and ASEAN member countries.