Howool Baek + SIGA Dance - Kontemporary Korea

A triple bill of K:Dance by leading Korean new talent, Howool Baek and SIGA Dance.

The solo Did U Hear by winner of Valencia Choreography competition Howool Baek  is based on the poem "The rose that grew from concrete" by rapper 2PAC. It deconstructs and fragments the body and sound into new and surprising forms, conjuring up an intriguing visual and aural landscape of mystery and visceral connections.

The humorous short film Foreign Bodies travels through Berlin’s iconic sites – from the German Parliament famous glass dome  to the grafittied walls of its trendy neighbourhoods. In 10 short episodes the foreign bodies of three dancers insert themselves in witty, yet unsettling encounters, multiplying as clones and forcing themselves in as aliens. But who decides who is alien or excluded in our urban landscapes?

The multisensory Rush by Hyuk Kwon for SIGA Dance Company is about pausing to listen to the needs of the inner self to gain peace in existing as we are. Two subtle male dancers Hyuk Kwon and Jinyoung Yang move through a meditative process, which takes them in and out of unison and into a spiritual and ritualistic space, where time becomes endless and they become their true selves. They are driven and supported by evocative string music by Hyunsu Kim, an atmospheric light design and even inclusion of smell to arrive at a new state of being one with oneself.

Howool Baek is an award winning choreographer working at the forefront of new experimentation between body and sound. Her work – often co-created with sound designer Matthias Eringer – creates intense experiences of powerful aural ambiences with minimalist choreography.

Company SIGA is one of Korea’s leading contemporary dance collectives, led by three choreographers.  SIGA roughly translates as ‘little by little’, and the company champions a highly collaborative and organic creation process to arrive at their signature meditative works. They have toured widely internationally.