From K-pop to Korean film, South Korean culture is being embraced by people worldwide. Now iconic choreographer Eun-Me Ahn is hoping a tour of her work Dragons which is visiting Newcastle Theatre Royal next month (Fri 14 & Sat 15 Mar 2025) will spark the imaginations of UK audiences for Korean contemporary dance.
Eun-Me Ahn, 61, has been a dance trailblazer at home and abroad for decades. Eun-Me Ahn Company, which she founded in 1988, is one of the leading South Korean contemporary troupes, playing theatres and festivals around the world including the FIFA World Cup in South Korea in 2002.
Her show Dragons was a hit with audiences in London and Salford in 2023 and Eun-Me believes the world has finally woken up to the powerhouse which is South Korean culture.
“The Korean people have a special kind of talent, really truly,” she says. “We combine historical background with personal vision.”
“Education is very important. People studied dance and music and history. At the same time, we accepted modernity and new ideas of politics and economics. And we did that in a very positive way, importing ideas from the West, from Europe and America, but also keeping our own culture and traditions. It was very natural for us to mix them together.”
This blend of past and present is captured in Dragons where Eun-Me wanted to draw on one of Asia’s most significant and iconic creatures.
“The dragon is a very symbolic creature. Everybody knows it and we have many, many stories about the dragons. But the dragon in Asia has many sides. Sometimes it is very good, sometimes the dragon has humour, sometimes it is a brave hero and sometimes it becomes very bad.”
In the show, the traditional heritage of these mythical beasts is combined with cutting-edge technology to create a stunning kaleidoscope of past and present. Dragons features a cast of seven dancers live on stage – who interface with six guest performers who appear as holograms. These six young dancers come from Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea and five of them were born around the year 2000, a Year of the Dragon.
The idea of combining holograms and stage performance was first sparked by having to use technology to communicate during Covid-19 lockdowns. Eun-Me and her team spent months directing and filming the six dancers and the development of the piece was painstaking.
“This process took a long time because we had to do it one-by-one,” Eun-Me says. “We had to teach them the movement using cell phones and sometimes we couldn’t even see their whole bodies. But we never gave up. And when we made the final show, I saw it in the theatre and I just shouted ‘wow’. It was unbelievable, we had made a beautiful moment.”
Renowned as an exceptionally charismatic performer, Eun-Me takes to the stage as one of the dancers in Dragons. She has also designed the spectacular costumes and overseen the creation of the dazzling sets.
“This show will give audiences lots of new ideas. Visually it’s sparkling and shiny. Dragons is a dance of miracles.”
Dragons plays Newcastle Theatre Royal Fri 14 & Sat 15 Mar 2025. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.