Korean contemporary dance performance comes to Brussels on 17 February

The Korean Cultural Center Brussels presents ground-breaking director Hun-Mok Jung’s new work Yaras at 140 theatre in Schaerbeek on 17 February.

It’s the star event of From Seoul to Schaerbeek, a Korean-themed evening that celebrates the Asian country’s culinary and cultural traditions.

The work is performed by Jung’s recently-established dance academy JUMOK Dance Theater. It explores trans-humanism and gender equality while challenging the concepts of genetic inheritance and technologically enhanced bodies versus anatomical defects/originalities.

The name Yaras represents a fictional community, in which each dancer is represented by a colour and a character. They are part of a society that lingers in a pattern of repeated cycles of ecstasy and lethargy. The key to understanding this mystifying civilisation appears to lie in symbolic images, actions and geometrically coded movements.

Jung’s use of future-oriented objects in the piece hints at the possible disappearance of humankind, but as the mystical drama unfurls, it leaves audiences with a ray of hope as an equilibrium is formed between different identities and ideologies.

The internationally-renowned Korean choreographer is a familiar name in Belgium’s dance scene as a long-time collaborator with the Peeping Tom company, reputed for its suspenseful and atmospheric shows. Together, Jung and the award-winning contemporary outfit have created seven outstanding pieces, and he also teaches around the world with the company’s sought-after dance workshops.

A graduate of Korea’s Dankook University dance department and Seoul School of Performing Arts, Jung created the globally-acclaimed dance film Uragano during the Covid pandemic. He followed this up with the choreography ANON, which was performed in Brussels and Seoul and garnered similar critical success.

A press officer from the Korean Cultural Center expressed their delight at the opportunity to showcase Korean creative dance performance in Belgium, a global hub for contemporary dance. "The Korean Cultural Center in Belgium & EU continues to bring a diverse range of Korean arts to the local community through a series of cultural initiatives," he said.

This latest project Yaras is another opportunity to experience the choreographer and director’s singular universe and admire the stunning skills of his company’s dancers.

From Seoul to Schaerbeek: Yaras by JUMOK Dance Theater
17 February, 20.00
Theatre 140
Avenue Eugène Plasky 140
Schaerbeek

Photos: yaras@Jumokdancetheater. Sorry! Our prize giveaway has now closed and the winners have been notified.