MODAFE, The New Wave #2

[Performance Introduction] MODAFE (International Contemporary Dance Festival), which has led the flow of contemporary dance in the Republic of Korea, has been opening new horizons for contemporary dance art for over 40 years. Moving beyond a simple arts festival, MODAFE has established itself as a prestigious dance festival that shares artworks from around the world and provides creative opportunities for artists, earning deep trust from both domestic and international artists. To date, through MODAFE, over 200 overseas organizations and over 440 domestic organizations have participated, with more than 1,300 works staged. The international networks and artistic solidarity built through the festival have grown MODAFE into a global platform that attracts choreographers and dance companies worldwide. Evolving every year into new and more inclusive formats, MODAFE will celebrate its 45th year in 2026. Under the theme "MODAFE Beyond Time, Beyond Dreams," it aims to share an artistic experience and a venue for international exchange that transcends the boundaries of time and dreams. Today, MODAFE seeks to continue its growth as a global festival and promote the diverse artistic values and meanings of contemporary dance, serving as a platform where various nations and artists share their creative worlds and expand the field of artistic communication beyond boundaries. Work Introduction Dance Company AoV <Manyang> Organization and Choreographer Introduction Dance Company Achievement of Victory (AoV) is a contemporary dance company founded in 2022. It continues its artistic activities using primal movement and sound as its primary creative elements, based on sensations and events experienced in daily life. It aims to complete a stage together where creators and audiences share sensations through the medium of dance. Choreographer Yeom Seung-hun approaches his works by exploring the possibility of spatial expansion based on dynamic and direct movements. Using daily movement as a starting point, he continues to create movements through close communication with dancers and discover the various possibilities inherent in the human body. Work Description There are two people who stay by each other's side to laugh together, and who feel comfortable even in silence. Moments of feeling just "manyang" (simply good) continue without any special incident or reason. This relationship does not try to prove anything, nor does it struggle to get closer. Before the effort to understand one another, it already rests upon shared time and sensations. Choreography: Yeom Seung-hun Cast: Yeom Seung-hun, Kim Seok-hyeon Composition: Jang Ji-ho Duration: 25 minutes Lee K-Dance <LaYeRs> Organization and Choreographer Introduction Since its founding in 2002, Lee K-Dance has been presenting new perspectives through interesting contemporary dance that contains the concerns of contemporaneity. By infusing the unique movements emitted by different bodies and their diversity into the choreography, the company is evaluated as having captured both artistry and popularity simultaneously. It is widely promoting the strength of Korean contemporary dance by showcasing original repertoires on the world stage. Lee Kyung-eun, who drew attention as a "maverick of the dance world" upon her debut in 1996, is a star choreographer recognized for her outstanding choreographic ability, presenting masterpiece works as the artistic director of Lee K-Dance. She has proven her original ideas and explosive stage presence by winning awards such as the first prize in the Solo Dance Theater Choreography Award in Germany and the Grand Prize of the Seoul Arts Award. Currently, she is widely promoting the artistry and popularity of Korean contemporary dance on the world stage based on contemporary sensibilities. Work Description Lee Kyung-eun Solo <LaYeRs> This work focuses on the presence of the body that has passed through time. The repetitive and expanding structure of music layered upon itself intertwines with the movement energy, intensely printing the traces of time accumulated in the body through contemporary dance. Like looking through a microscope at the layers piled up in the body, if we express it through dance alone, as if the layers are constantly accumulating, what will be at the end of those layers? Choreography and Cast: Lee Kyung-eun Costume: Bae Gyeong-sul Composition: Maurice Ravel Duration: 25 minutes Nonlybody <Towards Equilibrium> Organization and Choreographer Introduction Based on the concept of dance as a journey that starts from the body and continues endlessly, this collective, composed of three artists—Chueh-Kai KUO, Hsu Lien, and Chen Yu-Chi—was formed through extensive international touring and collaborative experiences spanning Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Based on long performance experience and in-depth movement research, they translate global practices into the local context of Taiwan, bridging international standards and local perspectives. Through a hybrid movement language that combines contemporary dance with circus, acrobatics, floorwork, and martial arts, they redefine corporeality while reflecting on the changing paths of artists and their relationships with audiences in the modern era. Work Description I often assume that balance can be found between myself and others, or that I can find balance from my own perspective. However, in reality, that balance exists only within the ideal space I imagine. What unfolds between the two people is a constant movement of approaching, retreating, and reacting, where each action creates another small change. We navigate a world that is never still, searching for fleeting moments where coexistence between two people is possible. I use a long pole to make these changes more visible and unavoidable. The pole amplifies changes in distance and timing, clearly revealing the delicate way the performers use their bodies as they seek ways to stay together even in an unbalanced state. Choreography: Chueh-Kai KUO Cast: Chen Yu-Chi, Hsu Lien Duration: 20 minutes