Move, Dance, Connect

A Joint Performance of the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company & The Washington Ballet

Tuesday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m.

Eisenhower Theater

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Free Tickets via the Kennedy Center website!

Performance Time: 90 min. including intermission

Free Tickets are Required

Performance Tickets

Experience the exquisite artistry of two world class dance companies in Move, Dance, Connect, a free joint performance featuring the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and The Washington Ballet. This special event presented by the Korean Cultural Center Washington. D.C. closes out the Korean Cultural Festival DC 2022, a month of public cultural events celebrating the 140^th anniversary of Korea-US ties and a shared history of cultural exchange.

Symbolizing the deep personal and cultural ties between South Koreans and Americans, the companies will each present original dance works that showcase their unique styles and creative inspirations through a conversation of movement and personal introspection.

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company under Artistic Director & Choreographer Nam Jeong-ho will perform This is Not a Game, an original work described as a dance version of the hit Netflix drama Squid Game for its unflinching take on toxic competition in modern society and the universal struggle to survive an uncertain future. What begins as scenes of play between dancers in this narrative work evolves into the survival and elimination of the main characters. Nam Jeong-ho's intricate choreography, which weaves together mundane, playful, and forceful movements, elevates This is Not a Game into a self-reflective work of art.

The Washington Ballet, whose diverse members hail from around the world, will present home-coming, a creative ballet work from choreographer Brett Ishida and featuring the company’s own Principal Dancer Eun Won Lee of Korea. Inspired by the choreographer’s own grandmother and the loss of her husband of 60 years, this poetic work takes viewers on a journey to find her memories. Although disoriented by the loss and drowned in sorrow, she recounts memories of the past and time they spent together in order to meet him again.

About the Choreographers

Nam Jeongho

Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) Artistic Director & Choreographer Nam Jeongho was a member of the esteemed French dance company Cie Jean-Gaudin in 1980 before returning to Korea where she played an important role in the development of the country’s dance scene and its independent identity.  As a professor of the dance department at Kyungsung University in Busan, she founded the dance company Zoom with which she actively pursued her creative endeavors. Nam’s style of dance, which stood out from the norm during an era in which much of contemporary dance in Korea was centered around American styles, is recognized to have opened up a new path forward in Korean contemporary dance. After the establishment of the School of Dance at the Korea National University of Arts in 1996, she was invited to join as a professor and has contributed to training and developing talent in Korean contemporary dance until 2018. She was appointed as KNCDC Artistic Director in 2020 and has defined her term with a strong interest in improvisation and her perennial artistic question, “Why not?”

Brett Ishida

Brett Ishida is the Artistic Director of ISHIDA based in Austin and Houston, Texas. While she grew up on a citrus farm in California’s Central Valley as a Japanese American, Ishida’s love for dance inspired her to move away from home at age 15 when she received a full scholarship to the Kirov Academy and later the School of American Ballet. She danced with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montréal. She later graduated from UCLA, earning a BA in Literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing (Poetry) and an MA in Montessori Education. She started ISHIDA in 2019 with a vision of combining those two worlds from her past. Her work intertwines reflections on timeless themes from Greek philosophy and poetry with the idea of subconscious memories that shape us, presenting characters that build relationships and become familiar as they question the enigma of life.

About the Companies

Korea National Contemporary Dance Company

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC), established in 2010, is Korea's only nationally-funded contemporary dance company, currently led by Artistic Director Nam Jeongho. In collaboration with leading Korean and international artists, KNCDC aspires to produce and present works that reach audiences of all generations and sectors of society with a variety of themes that touch on history, society, and daily life in today's complicated world. KNCDC strives to make contemporary dance fun rather than abstruse, with performances that audiences can intuitively understand, sympathize with, and enjoy. By protecting the rights of artists, KNCDC also enables creators and performers to freely express their individuality within a healthy ecosystem of diverse values that serves both audiences and performers. The company hopes to reach a broader audience through universally appealing performances that expand the contemporary dance community. For more, visit the KNCDC website.

The Washington Ballet

Celebrating its 75th year as an organization, The Washington Ballet grew out of the success of The Washington School of Ballet, founded and directed for years by legendary dance pioneer Mary Day. The School opened in 1944 and the Company was established in 1976 with Ms. Day’s singular vision clearly illuminated: to create a stellar institution of teaching, creating, and enlightenment through dance. Artistic Director Julie Kent’s long-term vision is to elevate the prominence of the company as a world-class ballet company in the nation’s capital by concurrently expanding the size of the company while broadening its repertoire. Her commitment to the development of both the dancer and the art form is fulfilled through presentation of beloved classic 19th-century ballets and landmark 20th-century works while reaffirming a commitment to commissioned works that will contribute to the evolution of ballet and its relevance in our times. TWB’s three-part mission is to ensure excellence in its professional performance company, to grow the next generation of dancers through its school, professional training division, and Studio Company, and to serve the community in which it resides through community engagement programs.

Celebration of 140 Years of Korea-US Ties

In 1882, Korea’s historical Joseon Dynasty and the United States first established diplomatic relations with a Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation. Korea-US relations have greatly evolved since those early days, giving rise to the Korea-US Alliance we know today, yet this origin still retains special significance. The two countries exchanged diplomatic personnel following the treaty and established the Korean Legation, which is now restored and open to visitors in Washington, D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood. It represents both Korea’s struggle for independence in the early 20^th century and a cradle of Korea-US friendship.

This event is co-hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), and the Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC) with support from the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE), and is a collaboration between the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and the Washington Ballet.

"This is Not a Game" photos by Ko Hyungkyun

 "home-coming" photos by Peyton Lily Bond