Dance goes beyond physical limitations

Dancers perform during the press preview for "Daeshim Dance" at the Seoul Arts Center, Thursday. / Courtesy of Seoul Arts Center

Contemporary choreographer Ahn stages show with height-disabled dancers

By Yun Suh-young

Well-known contemporary dancer and choreographer Ahn Eun-mi stages another one of her unique and socially meaningful shows this weekend.

The "Daeshim Dance," which will be performed until Sunday at the Seoul Art Center's CJ Towol Theater, is one involving non-professional dancers with restricted growth disabilities. The title of the show is a combination of Chinese characters "dae" and "shim," which, combined, means a "big heart."

Ahn's dance company, the Ahn Eun Mi Company, wanted to show that height is not a barrier to dance and shed light on the importance of communication with minorities through the performance. The show is second in a three-part project Ahn is organizing in the long run. She had already showcased her first, "Anshim Dance" collaborating with visually-impaired people to show that impaired sight can actually awaken senses in the movement.

"This time we collaborated with two young men with height disorders. Their physiques are different from us; they live in a different world. I had always wanted to collaborate with people like them. It will be a new experience for the audience," Ahn said during a press conference Thursday.

"It will be the first time for the audience to see height-impaired dancers on stage, especially in contemporary dance. These two men are not trained dancers, but we rehearsed for the past two months and they have so much to show. They have immense energy."

Ahn's company publicly recruited anyone who was willing to participate and Kim Beom-jin and Kim Yoo-nam were the two who knocked on their door. The 25- and 27-year-olds are a travel writer and a part-time comedian and met for the first time at Ahn's studio.

"It's a new experience for them as well and a challenge. But as we practiced we realized the size of the physique or height is unimportant if the energy is huge. They both have their own killer moves," said Ahn.

"The question was how far could they go? Their movements were limited. The techniques used by a dance of average height are different from theirs. So we spent some time just hanging out with for a while to figure out their strengths. From the beginning we noticed they had a sense of rhythm and humor. We had so much fun and were inspired by them."

The 70-minute performance is filled with techno-style music and vibrant colors, with costumes reminiscent of circus troupes. Costumes are one-pieced spandex outfits with vertical stripes in various colors.

"The stripes represent the length in life. We all live different lengths of lives," said Ahn. "I wanted to question how we can measure the visible length in comparison to the psychological length. So we designed an outfit with lines stretching out infinitely."

The movements are closest to freestyle dance but with sequence and logic in the techniques. Ahn is often referred to as the Pina Bausch of Korea, the German contemporary dancer who went down in history for her innovative moves. Ahn's company was invited by the Pompidou Centre to participate in a festival later this year and is also scheduled to perform in England, Germany, and Bulgaria.

"Yoo-nam flies away at the very end. Things that can't happen in real life can happen on stage. I hope these two gentlemen will grow to become important figures in the Korean contemporary art scene. They want to become actors and I said to them they should establish their own company," said Ahn.

"I hope this performance can be a turning point for them to show who they are to the world. With their energy and stamina, they will be breaking our prejudices on stage."

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