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FESTIVAL DANCERSOngDance CompanyDANCE ORIGIN: Korea Korean-born dancer/choreographer Kyoungil Ong is artistic director of OngDance Company (formed in 2003), and was artistic director of S.F. Korean Culture Center, and A.I.R. at Oakland Asian Cultural Center. With an M.A. from Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University, she achieved acclaim as principal dancer for the National Dance Company of Korea. She has choreographed over fifty works and performed in thirty countries (including the Atlanta Olympics and “Wave Rising” in New York). OngDance awards include: San Francisco Foundation Choreography Commission for the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Isadora Duncan, Art Council of Korea, and 24th Barcelona International Dance Competition. 2012 PERFORMANCE
This performance—called Hae Tal - The Way of Eternal Liberation—is a contemporary Korean Buddhist performance based upon traditional Korean dance forms. OngDance Company expresses two differing Buddhist philosophies of nirvana (spiritual enlightenment) and hae tal (emancipation). The first section expresses the path to nirvana of Hinayana Buddhism. Hinayana is the tradition of the “lesser vehicle”, where the vehicle is the means of transport to enlightenment. Here, the dancer portrays the modern world with its ties to sin, pain, and loneliness. The sins of the past pull down the human spirit, but the dancer eventually finds emancipation from her struggles, and she finds it within her human form. The Korean dance style is barachum, a form known to excite the weary spirit through the ringing cymbals on the dancers’ hands. The second section illustrates the path to nirvana of Mahayana Buddhism (the tradition of the greater vehicle). The dancer expresses an emancipation that escapes the bonds of humanity and cuts ties with Earth. This section is performed in the Korean Buddhist dance style seungmu, in traditional dress with long flowing sleeves. Seungmu is a dance often performed by Buddhist monks and is one of Korea’s famous traditional dances: it was designated as South Korea’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset #27 in 1969. The final section is a Beopgochum ritual, a Dharma drum dance celebrating life as the pursuit of transcendence. The performers express their newly liberated state as they slowly fall back to earth. 2011 PERFORMANCE
2010 PERFORMANCEThe Last Empress returns us to the reign
of Korea’s beloved Empress Min of the Chosun dynasty, before Japanese
annexation. The piece opens with a court dance, celebrating Queen
Min's coronation in 1866 in Seoul’s Gyeongbok
Palace. Kyoungil Ong's original choreography uses elements of traditional
ka’injeonmohkdan and taepyungmu dance, to bring to life an ancient and
beautiful nobility. Next, dancers perform the minimal Hyangbal Mu, named for the dancers' hand
cymbals. The celebration is interrupted by the brutal pre-dawn assassination
attack by the Japanese army. The empress and her attendants wear
identical clothing, but their efforts to hide the queen are futile. Queen Min's
final dance is the expressive Salpuri,
a dance of spiritual cleansing. Soloist Kyoungil Ong wears
white—the traditional color of death in Korean culture. As the Empress prepares
to enter the afterlife, she offers a consoling farewell, expressing sorrow,
concern, and encouragement to her people. Salpuri is listed
as a "national intangible heritage" because it embodies the essence
of Korean dance. Focusing on internal expression and metaphysical joy (mot and
heung), Korean dancers express life's heavier aspects, while embodying an inner
lightness; they move continuously, mirroring the eternally revolving yin and
yang, darkness and light; they lead each step with the heel, holding the body
in check, reflecting an introverted spiritualism. The music is improvised in South Han indigenous shinawi
style. Instruments include the gayageum, geomungo, and ajaeng zithers; haegeum
fiddle; piri oboe; and daegeum flute. 2008 PERFORMANCE
In ancient Korea, nature's mysteries were attributed to spirits residing in trees, rocks, and animals, and other phenomena. Korean shamans, called mudong, acted as intermediaries between humans and the spirit world. They prevented natural disasters, drove wild demons away, and helped promote a life of peace and joy. It was believed that earthly life—han—was one of deep-seated agonies and sorrows, which could not be resolved in this world. After death, many souls wandered restlessly in pain, and when they complained to their relatives in dreams, a mudong was called in as a guide. The mudong —usually a woman—honored the sun, moon, and constellations in elaborate ritual, offering tributes and animal sacrifices. She opened a passageway that soared to the sky, so souls could depart in peace. Korean Shamanism, or Musok Sinang, is still practiced today. Over the centuries, it has become fused with Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and more recently it is practiced along with Christianity. Mumu is the most primeval of the Korean ritualistic dances. It shows the direct connection between worlds. Dancers evoke, welcome, and ingratiate the gods; banish stray gods to the other world; and combat malicious spirits. Choreographer Kyoungil Ong learned mumu in its traditional form in Korea, and today presents a premiere of her own choreography. She has recast the ancient rituals with contemporary movements and costumes. As the dance begins, the souls of the dead are restless within their tombs and trapped in the trees. The mudong shakes bang wool (tin bells) to wake the souls of a thousand years. She captures the awakened souls with bu chae (fans) so they can rejoice with her and ease their suffering. She offers the dead a zhijeon, a long sheet of paper encrusted with coins, for good fortune and currency in the afterworld. She also offers the baek mok cheon, or long cloth, as the soaring pathway to heaven. The mudong splits the cloth, opening the passageway, and the undead enter the afterlife. The music for this piece features percussion and horns, and reflects a Shamanic percussive music, which is popular all over Korea.
Today, OngDance is accompanied by international guest musicians from Korea—wHOOL (to empty out all thought)—who will play Korean wind instruments, piri and daekeum, and percussion, jang gu. 2005 PERFORMANCE
Ong Dance Company performs the Korean Drum Dance, which uses several sets of dragon-shaped small drums hanging on three sides of the dancer, on a carved wooden frame. One drum is hung at the center, and two on the sides, so the drum is open to the audience to reveal the movements of the dancer pounding the drum in rhythmically complex and syncopated phrases. Elegantly dressed, the dancer applies all parts of her body to make the sound of the drum, and incorporates graceful yet powerful acrobatic movements. This is symbolic of the merging of spirit on earth. The costume worn for this piece is the traditional hanbok consisting of fabric that creates straight lines and smooth curves. Women wear short jackets and long skirts, men wear trousers, a vest and jacket. Traditional these would be in all white, or very colorful for special occasions, and recently different styles of the hanbok have been altered to better suit practical everyday comfort. The choreography of this piece by Kyoungil Ong has been supported by a Choreography Commission Award from the San Francisco Foundation. |
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