By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Ireland and Korea are getting together through dance for the first time with a collaboration project dubbed ``Live Music & Body.''
The Dance Theater of Ireland (DTI) will join Korean dance outfit NOW Dance Company and offer fans a special event, with choreographers, dancers, musicians and technical staff from both countries working together as a team.
Two works will make their world premieres here: the DTI's ``Parallel Horizons'' and NOW Dance Company's ``Under the Roof."
The two pieces will combine Korea and Ireland's past and present, along with a fusion of the music and dance that represent both countries.
The collaboration started when the NOW Dance Company visited Ireland with its work ``Tradition & Change," based on Korean traditional dance.
The three choreographers and art directors, Robert Conner and Loretta Yurick of the DTI and Sohn In-young of the NOW Dance Company, discussed working together and as DTI had plans of coming to Korea for the Busan International Beach Dance Festival in August, their plans finally bore fruit.
Artistic directors Conner and Yurick, of the DTI, choreographed ``Parallel Horizons.'' The work will portray the concept of ``occupation'' in the two countries and the spirits of the people. ``Chaos,'' ``Eros'' and the meaning of living together as a whole will be presented through the swift and graceful movements of the dancers. The work was also based on the Korean poet Go Un's poem ``Flowers of a Moment.''
Meanwhile, ``Under the Roof'' is organized by Sohn. The roof represents many things: a tool that brings people together as a family, but also a restriction that hinders freedom and demands relationships with the people living under the same roof. Being alone means loneliness, but to be with others brings inconvenience. The piece will touch the various relationships people confront during their lives, along with the altruism that follows as an individual and also a part of a certain relationship.
The two works will be performed with traditional instruments of both countries, on a stage designed by architects and with media works of visual artists decorating the setting. With the help of fashion designers, the two works will bring the traditional and modern of the two different worlds.
``Live Music & Body'' will be on stage through Oct. 4 in Korea and move to Ireland Nov. 12-Dec. 2. Tickets cost from 15,000 won to 50,000 depending on the venue in Korea. For more information, visit www.nowdance.org or call (02) 3674-2210.