Eun-Me Ahn [Postponed to 2021]

Eun-Me Ahn’s creations feature colour and movement explosions that storm the audience. In addition to the visual component, she has a keen social and political sensitivity for bringing people closer. After turning the stage at Rivoli into a great, intergenerational dance floor with Dancing Grandmothers in 2017, Eun-Me Ahn returns to that same stage with North Korea Dance. In this project, the South Korean choreographer intends to come closer to the dance of North Korea, which is also known as the “hermit country”. Videos showing military parades, fans dancing, virile gestures, virtuous acrobatics and traditional dances prompt the exploration of the differences and similarities of this practice in the North and in the South. The two Koreas have recently taken a historical step toward peace that could put an end to a 65-year-old conflict. What is mostly known about North Korea is its leader and its nuclear arms race. But what about its arts and its dance? “We share the same roots, the same traditions. However, given our History and the partition of Korea, things have evolved very differently on the two sides of the border. All citizens long for peace between the two countries. The moment may have come to get to know each other better.” In an attempt to shorten distances between two countries that are geographically too close, the performance mirrors the desire to have Koreans from both sides of the border interacting through movement. North Korea Dance brings hope for creating a common choreographic language. 


Leading artist of the Korean performing arts scene, EUN-ME AHN studied contemporary dance at the Ehwa Womans University in Seoul. She created her company in 1988, before moving to New York in 1991 to study at the Tisch School of the Arts. In 2001, she moved back to Korea and continued her choreographic and performance practice, revisiting her country’s classics (Princess Bari) or investigating social issues—often working with non-professionals—like that of generations (Dancing Grandmothers, Dancing Teen Teen, Dancing Middle-aged Men) or handicap (Ahnsim Dance, with blind people, or Daeshim Dance, with small size people). With a repertoire of over 150 pieces, she has known international recognition with productions such as Symphoca Princess Bari, Let Me Change Your Name or Dancing Grandmothers, which have been presented at the most prestigious stages around the world. Eun-Me Ahn is associated artist at Théâtre de la Ville-Paris.