LAPP In NYC

LAPP took to NYC in March with Polytemporal Dance, a new iteration of our producing project NORRI, by DaEun Jung.  An excerpt from Polytemporal Dance was presented as part of a triple bill of quartets by Movement Research at Judson Church, with a stripped down, in-progress showing for the New York dance community.

“Polytemporal Dance summons dancing bodies’ poly-temporal somatic memories through repetitive, groovy movements,” says DaEun, “Gestural movement of classical Korean dance was an entry point… de-stylized and transmuted to pedestrian or groovy patterns associated with individual memories through improvisation. Not only stripping out the visual and sonic elements of ‘Korean culture,’ in this iteration, we also explored further from the classical form and brought more personal and spontaneous vocabularies.”

DaEun was excited to bring a new twist on this work-in-progress to Judson Church where, she says, “experimentation is welcomed. Movement Research is a mix of people freshly graduated from dance programs and experienced artists who want to show something new. I had really inspirational, curious conversations.”

A highlight of the trip was checking out the NYC scene. “I was able to see some inspirational dance performances and exhibitions—Ralph Lemon’s performance Rant #6 as part of his exhibition at MoMA PS1, Donna Uchizono’s remounted work, Dedications / State of Heads (1999) at danspace, Christine Sun Kim’s All Day All Night at the Whitney Museum, and more.”

Then of course, there was the performance itself. “So many people said, ‘I’ve never seen a work like this,'” smiles DaEun, “I stripped the dancers of the hanbok (Korean traditional dress-inspired costumes seen in other iterations of the piece) and I took out Melody’s pansori singing, so I was curious how people would react. People were surprised to learn that the movements came from classical Korean dance vocabulary, because we had removed the clues that it came from non-Western influences. A couple of people said it was very sensual, looked like bedroom gestures. [It] was my fun attempt to use the same movement material in a new community, stripping out the cultural material, so people saw patterns, gestures, moving parts, and somatic explorations, which was very satisfying, because usually the first questions we get are always about Korean culture, whereas here people were talking about the patterns and the improvisational quality.”

LAPP’s Director of Programming + Producing, K. Bradford, joined DaEun and the dancers for their NYC rehearsal and performance. “It was a thrill to be up close to this new iteration of DaEun’s choreographic work. Fresh off of a Loghaven residency, with new work on the Movement Research stage at Judson Church, with her just released NORRI Play Book, and with my meetings with directors in New York to explore future possibilities for her work, DaEun had a re-emergence in a city she’s had a close history with. The excitement amongst her dancers was palpable, along with the audience engagement.”

Pictured: Arletta Anderson, DaEun Jung, Jack Ironstone, Chantal Cherry. Photographs by K. Bradford.