How do you look at dragons?
To a western eye that are dangerous and powerful, in Asia they represent lightness, joy and optimism.
And in the hands of the word renowned South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn’s the dragons on stage at Mayflower Theatre were tubes, metal tubes, something she explained to us at the Q&A after show.
Although it didn’t twig with this reviewer during the show, it made perfect sense afterwards.
Eun-Me also said the tubes represented the “calls” we make via the Internet, the way we connect with each other.
I thought they were fantastic props, various sizes, used as a backdrop curtain, surrounding three sides of the stage, or as a sock puppet in the opening piece.
In fact the opening of the show was one of the most endearing parts, the lone woman, doing “her thing” on the stage, communication through sounds and motion, a summary of Eun-Me Ahn’s career.
Eun-Me Ahn is described as a pioneering choreographer who embraces modern techniques to captivate her audiences.
That is the truth. I haven’t seen a show staged like this before.
Images, dancers, scenes and video is projected onto a mesh in front of the performers and on some occasions you are taken to another world, in others the dances are joined by a digital troop, or, in another poignant scene, the dancers perform inside a giant bubble that they push to one side.
It is Taeseok Lee’s vivid and colourful projections, which bring forests and clouded skies to life, and surrounding your senses with an evocative soundtrack from Jang Young-Gyu , who blends contemporary pop and electronic with a traditional score.
There is so much too love within this show, however you do have to bring an artistic head to the Mayflower Theatre.
Even though your senses will be delighted, the part of you that needs a narrative to explain it all will be wanting. So just sit back and let it all take you in.
The tour is brought to the UK by Dance Consortium and speaking to Voice FM, Joe Bates, who is chief executive, explained why they are involved.
“Dance Consortium is a group of 22 large scale venues all over the UK and Ireland. And I work with the directors and programmers of those theatres to bring in large scale international dance companies. And we tour them round to those different venues. So not every venue is on every tour.
But we have opened this one with the Mayflower in Southampton, who have been a long standing member of Dance Consortium, probably for nearly 20 years, and they're always incredibly supportive of bringing in international dance, to put something a bit different in their program for people to see and locally.”
Eun-Me Ahn is one of the most important artists in South Korea - and in Dragons your senses will find their wings.
