She is known as "the Pina Bausch of Seoul" and is a choreographer who has attracted the attention of western audiences by fusing tradition with modernity. She now transforms the stage into a dance floor where....a group of grandmothers start to dance!
Eun-Me Ahn is a Korean artist with a truly cosmopolitan spirit. Already well-known in her country, when in 2002, she prepared the opening ceremony for the World Cup Football Championships in Daegu, but made her name on the international stage in 2013 when she brought Princess Bari, a pop saga based on a traditional Korean story, to the Quartier d'Eté de París. It’s no surprise that she was invited back to the festival the following year. She dazzled Paris audiences with the show that we now see in Barcelona and which transforms the stage into a giant dance floor. It will be filled with young performers from her company, but they’re not the only dancers. There will also be ten Korean grandmothers. In 2010, as she journeyed through the rural heartland of Korea, Eun-Me Ahn met a group of women, aged between 60 and 90, who she asked to dance for her. When she saw the happiness on their faces as they danced, she decided to create a show containing all the energy and delight that these women brought to their movements. The result is a performance where you will see these women dancing naturally as well as film clips taken of them where they normally live. Through this, we see that every one of the women’s movements reflects the harshness of their living conditions and that their rather wrinkled and crumpled bodies tell the full story of their lives, together with that of modern Korea. Fancy a dance? Well, come and join the party...
A gentle and fascinating show from an avant-garde creator whose training ground was Korean strictness and precision, but who has lived in New York and who in her work plays with the colours of pop and the austerity of black and white, as well as the more subtle tones of androgyny.
Dancing Grandmothers was commissioned by the Doosan Art Center (DAC).
A co-production of the Eun-Me Ahn Company and the Paris Quartier d’Eté.
On tour with the support of KAMS - Center Stage Korea
Eun-Me Ahn is associated artist to the 2018-19 season of Théâtre de la Ville-Paris.
Choreographer and Art Director: Eun-Me Ahn Performers: Eun-Me Ahn, Donghun Go, Jihye Ha, Youngmin Jung, Hyekyoung Kim, Jeeyeun Kim, Seunghae Kim, Eisul Lee, Hyunwoo Nam, Sihan Park, Chang Nang Ahn, Kisook Ahn, Wonhee Choi, Jumre Jun, Yoo-Ok Jung, Chunhee Kim, Minsook Kim, Nam Sook Kim, Jung Im Youn Music: Young-Gyu Jang Artistic Advisor: Chun Wooyoung Costume and Set Designer: Eun-Me Ahn Set Designer: Sunny Im / Unkwan Design Lighting Designer: Jin-Young Jang Video Director: Tae-Seok Lee Video: Jiwoong Nam, Seunghwan Kim, Sangwha Lee, Taeseok Lee Production assistants: Sang Lee, Eunji Park Photography: Young-Mo Choe
