Discover Life, History Through Garden of Wind
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Myungsook PARK Dance Theater will perform ``The Garden of Wind'' Dec. 5-6 in Seoul.
The performance will present the history of the Korean people by delving into the lives of men and women during turbulent times.
The troupe explained that people's lives are like seasons, continuously rotating and repeating, regardless of the happiness, sadness, tension and ease that come and go throughout history.
Comprised of seven acts, including a prologue and epilogue, the work will present different themes followed by several historical events.
In the prologue, ``The Place where the Sun and Moon Stay,'' dancers will metaphorically portray the characteristics of women through the images of dirt, water and gardens, and those of men through fire and wind. In this act, the world does not possess any social or cultural meaning other than survival.
The second act, ``Spring has Gone,'' and the third act, ``A Bird Fling With One Wing,'' conveys the horrible times of war. Through war, the nation falls apart, with chaos and conflict giving way to love and affection.
``Black Cat, White Cat'' covers a new social problem: survival in a modern and industrial society. Through simple movements, this act will show the differences of how men and women survived severe times. The next act, ``Time Remains Still,'' will offer a series of events that took place during times of dictatorship and move on to the pro-democracy movement.
``Stormy Night'' is a mixture of all the other acts. It will capture the past and present, the individual and groups, communication and silence, and the agricultural and industrial lifestyle, through dramatic settings and images of wind, fire and water.
At the end, however, the epilogue will remind viewers of the importance of life itself, regardless of gender. Despite wars and ideological, cultural and social differences, life is what matters the most, thus the dancers will use the image of a forest, where the strong trees do not give way to wind, and emphasize the importance and repetition of life.
By using various props, accessories and costumes, ``The Garden of Wind'' will allow visitors to realize how the Korean public, both male and female, endured and kept their identities intact throughout history.
The dance theater was launched in 1978 by art director Park Myung-sook. As one of Korea's most famous modern dance troupes, the dance theater has won numerous awards, including the Special Award at the Suzanne Dellal International Dance Competition in 1994 and also the 13th Internationales Sommer Theater Festival, Hamburg, in 1996.
``The Garden of Wind'' will be on stage at the Arko Arts Theater Dec. 5-6. Tickets cost from 20,000 won to 40,000 won. For more information, visit https://artstheater.arko.or.kr.