I conducted a series of workshops with North Korean migrants immigrated to South Korea in 2012.
This workshops was with migrant dancers at the Pyongyang Performing Arts Company in Seoul. The company consisted of former performing artists, such as singers, dancers, and musicians from North Korea. As for the dance group, the members were from both North and South Korea. The North Korean dancers in the company did not receive a formal education in North Korea as they grew up during the time of the “Arduous March” – the period of great famine and economic crisis – when students in North Korea worked instead of studied to serve for the country. Only Kim Younghee, the current vice-president of Pyongyang Performing Arts Company, was a professional dancer in a prominent Pyongyang dance group. Today, she trains the amateur dancers to perform North Korean dance for South Korean audiences.
Division and Body, emerging harmony through dance Open Seminar
In the Open Seminar, I invited a dancer from north korea and south korea, introducing the works and life, invoking a dialogue how collaboration among artists from north korea and south korea can be formed now. Through collaborative creative process using body as a medium of expression, new kind of emerging creative expression toward restoring harmony of north and south korean can be suggested through expression as Art.
Body is a vehicle soul, integral part of our existence on the earth. As one part of Kim Yonghee’s life, she lived in North Korea, being a dancer in prominent performing arts company in Pyongyang. Another part of her life, she relocated herself in South Korea, going through a rite of passage of crossing a border river between North Korea and China, later between China and South Korea to fly into new land, Seoul.
We exchanged our vision of creating artistic collaborative works using body as media, focusing on emerging harmony in Korean peninsula, recognizing deep truth hidden throughout past a half century, as well as emanating new outflowing energy of recuperative revival of our true self as being One . It was a collective peace movement of Art in collaboration among north and south korean, as well as diaspora korean artists.
I invited people to participate dialogue to create collective peace movement through Art in this open seminar. My approach toward the division is to raise awareness by recognizing the reality of what is going on around us as well as sending out positive energy of recuperation and restoration of our collective psyche through powerful artistic expression using body as a medium, of dance.
공개 세미나
2012년 12월 28일
분단된 한반도에서, 북과 남의 경계에서 신체를 통해 표현을 해오던 예술가들과 대화를 나누었다. 북한에서 넘어온 예술가와 남한의 예술가가 공동작업을 하며 새로운 흐름을 창조해가는 길을 구상했다.
1. 발표
-김영희 선생님 발표 및 대화 나누기
북한과 남한에서 삶을 살면서 표현을 해오신 김영희선생님을 초대하고 북한과 남한에서 북한 춤을 추고 오신 이야기를 듣고 대화를 나누었다.
북한 평양예술단의 무용 “봉선화”와 일본 총련 금강산가극단 “쟁강춤” 감상
김영희: 북한 평양국립민속예술단의 무용수로 활동. 현재 남한 평양예술단 무용 지도원
– 서정숙 선생님, 살풀이 공연
서정숙 조갑녀춤 (민살풀이, 승무) 전수자. 단국대학교 공연예술학부, 극동대학교 연기연극학과, 중요무형문화재 부천 전수관, 동작문화원 등에서 한국 무용 강사.
– 재일교포 작가 금선희가 자신의 신체를 가지고 헤매던 영혼들을 승화시키는 통로를 예술을 통해 표현 해왔던 작업을 소개, 대화를 나누기
2. 응답
– 김종길 경기도 미술관 학예원
– 오원환 독립영화 감독, 고려대 박사
