Tag Archive: Eun-Me Ahn

Exhausting

“Dragons”
Eun-Me Ahn Company
Forum Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg, Germany
November 09, 2024

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Dragons” by E.-M.Ahn, Eun-Me Ahn Company 2024 © S.YunTwo years ago, the South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn’s company toured the Forum Ludwigsburg with North Korea Dance. Last weekend, it presented the 2021 piece, Dragons. Ahn handpicked five dancers from Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Malaysia to participate in the production who couldn’t join rehearsals due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Instead, their dance parts were captured on video and then animated into 3-D digital avatars of superhuman size and abilities. They shared the stage with the seventy-year-old (and usually shaved bald) Ahn and her company. Because the five dancers from abroad were all born in 2000, which, according to the Chinese zodiac, was the Year of the Dragon, Ahn called the piece Dragons. The current year also marks the Year of the Dragon (the Chinese zodiac is a repeating twelve-year cycle), which may be the reason for touring Dragons in Europe and the UK right now. (more…)

Sensitive

“North Korea Dance”
Eun-Me Ahn Company
Forum Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg, Germany
October 15, 2022

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2022 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “North Korea Dance” by E.-M.Ahn, Eun-Me Ahn Company 2022 © J.-M.ChabotLast season, Eun-Me Ahn Company’s visit to Ludwigsburg fell victim to COVID-19. This October, the South Korean troupe made up for the cancelation by offering two performances of “North Korea Dance” at the Forum Ludwigsburg.
The Seoul-born Eun-Me Ahn studied dance in her home country and in New York. After returning home, she took the reins at the Daegu City Dance Company, Korea’s first national contemporary dance ensemble. In 1988, Ahn founded the Eun-Me Ahn Company, which has been a regular guest on western stages.
Little is known about dance in North Korea. To change this and to explore the common roots of North and South Korean dance, Ahn consulted the internet. Based on the dance videos from North Korea available online, she created her own interpretation of the neighboring country’s dance culture. The final product: a ninety-minute revue-like journey through time. (more…)