When discussing dance with friends, family, and co-workers, it is only natural that the excited question, “What is it about?” arises in conversation. Like any good piece of art, choreographer and director of Bereishit Dance Company, Park Soon-ho, gave an eager audience at USC’s Bovard Auditorium plenty to talk about before and after their Los Angeles debut of JUDO and BALANCE & IMBALANCE this past Sunday evening. Instead of “what is it about”, most of us found our question “what was the inspiration”. For a company based in Seoul, Korea, and largely non-English speaking, the American audience at the Visions and Voices Event was forced to look beyond the explanation of what, and instead ask the simple question, “why did I like this piece”. Perhaps Bereishit Dance Company’s sheer physical power of persistence and stamina made us feel connected to the humanness of running our bodies till they give. Perhaps the bold set pieces in monochromatic colors and minimalist costuming calms the mind and focuses the eye. But I think, the genius of Bereishit, is the uncomplicated choreographic approach of being inspired by a simple idea and building it into a structure an audience around the globe, no matter where you live, could understand.
USC Visions and Voices – Bereishit Dance Company in “Judo” – Photo (c) Gina Clyne.
In JUDO, a large bright red tatami mat was placed in the center of the stage with different sections cut out and removed. The dancers, Lee Da-som, Na Ji-hun, Jeong Min-woo, Park Sang-hyun, Jung Kang-han, Jang Eun-young, and Kim Pyung-on entered balancing each of the missing mat pieces on top of their head. Dressed in loose fitting black suit jackets and pants, each mover began an improvised one, two, step in place while adjusting these oblong and quite heavy pieces of folded futon above their heads. When the pieces were eventually dropped and locked into place, the dancers repeated runs, and martial art-like phrases similar to a sped up version of Capoeira. Like the Brazilian dance, it felt as though the movers were always practicing self-defense disguised, not only by the softness of dance, but also by the hardness of sport. Park Soon-ho, in an after performance Q&A, recalls his inspiration for JUDO as violence and sport. He quotes, “If violence is [a] human instinct that constantly needs to be handled – the essence of sport and the fatigue of sport give us the opportunity to release it.” In a particular soft movement of JUDO, the dancers took off their suit jackets and placed it on top of another dancer hunched over himself, shuffling around the mat on his toes. As he staggered forward, the pieces of mat were once again removed creating a path for him to follow, reminiscent of a mole or mouse in a maze. In this world of violence they’ve created, we had this understated moment of instability and confusion, reminding audiences that humans can be defined by their violence but also their willingness. JUDO was rooted in soft repetition but also powerful ritual; like watching seven panthers run an entire ecosystem right there on the stage.
USC Vision and Voices – Bereishit Dance Company in “Balance and Imbalance” – Photo by (c) Gina Clyne.
In BALANCE & IMBALANCE the audience got a very different angle to what Bereishit is all about. The piece married eastern performative techniques with western ideas of performance. Musicians, Kim Jeong-uk and Ko Maeng-ka, were dressed in traditional Korean garb sitting on the lip of stage left behind their Janggu drums. Vocalist, Kim Eun-kyung, dressed in a bright yellow Hanbok dress, joined them on the floor of the stage. The dancers, dressed in solid colored slacks, skirts, and button down shirts, approached each other on stage in groups of three as two would hold the one in a seemingly impossible pose defying all gravitational pull. The piece consisted of leaping into each other’s arms, extreme trust falls, and smooth partnering transitions. Singer, Kim Eun-kyung, engaged with the dancers on stage with Korean song and dialogue, telling fantasies of the animal kingdom and the rulers of the wild. While I could not understand the language in full, Kim Eun-kyung was just as engaging to watch as any of the dancers, in her dramaturge of imagination. Her captivating performance and expression in story-telling transcended all language barriers, and I felt myself watching her next move more than the choreography itself. This beautiful eclipse of eastern fable mixed with contemporary and modern movement gave audiences of all backgrounds and preferences something to hold onto and love.
USC Vision and Voices – Bereishit Dance Company musicians in “Balance and Imbalance” – Photo by (c) Gina Clyne.
Some dance moves you for its choreographic principles, and some dance moves you for its physical beauty and technique, and Bereishit Dance did both. This wonderful company is a palette cleanser for American audiences rattled in political opposition, and disheartening newsbreaks; an absolute delight to watch, and a privilege to bear witness to.
For more information on Bereishit Dance Company, please visit their website.
For more information about Visions and Voices, please visit their website.
Written by Grace Courvoisier for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: USC Visions and Voices – Bereishit Dance Company in JUDO – Photo (c) Gina Clyne.
