South Korean culture is experiencing a global surge in popularity, with K-pop and Korean cinema captivating audiences worldwide. Now, acclaimed choreographer Eun-Me Ahn—fresh from appearing in a Gucci exhibition celebrating legendary Korean artists—brings her latest creation, Dragons, to the UK as part of an eight-venue tour presented by Dance Consortium.
In many Asian cultures, dragons symbolize resilience, joy, and optimism. These themes inspire Dragons, a dazzling multimedia performance blending dance, music, holograms, and striking costumes in a hypnotic, high-energy spectacle.
Ahn and her company of seven extraordinary dancers move within an ever-shifting theatrical landscape filled with undulating silver vacuum hoses and the vivid, dreamlike projections of Taeseok Lee, evoking forests and clouded skies. Enhancing this surreal world, holograms of five young guest dancers—four of whom were born in the Year of the Dragon (2000)—offer their unique perspectives on the coexistence of past and future, embodying the fluidity and dynamism of Gen Z in an ever-changing world.
Created during the isolation of the pandemic, Dragons weaves together contemporary movement with traditional Asian dance forms, echoed in Jang Young-Gyu’s evocative score, which fuses traditional Korean music with modern pop and electronica.
Eun-Me Ahn is one of South Korea’s most influential contemporary artists. Now in her sixties, she established her dance company in 1988, presenting works at major festivals and theatres worldwide. Her strong feminist views have shaped her striking personal style—shaving her head and defying Korea’s traditional image of women as "long-haired, good girls, and charming wives." Through her acclaimed intergenerational projects, Ahn consistently challenges conventional perceptions of age and gender, often working with non-professionals to expand the boundaries of dance.
The company features dancers Hyekyoung Kim, Seyeon Kim, Hyeonseo Lee, Gaon Han, Sunjae Jo, Deokyeong Kim, Yongsik Moon, and Eun-Me Ahn herself. On-screen guest performers include Nur Syahidah Binti Hazmi, Akari Takahashi, Jiwan Jung, Siiko Setyanto, Dwi Nusa Aji Winarno, and Guan Ting Zhou.
