Made of memories

Choreographer Hong Sung-yup says he fears developing Alzheimer’s disease much more than any other life-threatening illness.

“You completely lose the sense of who you are (with the disease), and that is just extremely frightening,” said the choreographer, who currently serves as the artistic director of the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company.

“I fear it more than cancer.”

Hong’s latest work, “The Dog and the Shadow,” reflects the artist’s thoughts on memories and how they shape us into who we are. The piece, which is loosely inspired by a story from Aesop’s Fables of the same title, also asks what it means to lose memories and what it does to one’s sense of self.

In the fable, a dog carrying a piece of meat in his mouth sees his own reflection in the water while crossing a stream. Thinking it is another dog with another piece of meat, he opens his mouth to bark and seize the food. But as he does so, his meat falls into the stream.

Hong interprets the dog’s own reflection as one’s accumulated ― and sometimes romanticized ― memories. Just like the dog in the fable and Narcissus from Greek mythology, Hong’s characters are fascinated by their own reflections ― a product of their personalized memories and experiences.
Hong uses interesting props that serve rather poetically.

Onstage, there are dozens of transparent boxes filled with white feathers and small pieces of cotton and paper. The white materials symbolize one’s memories ― light, insignificant and easily flown in the air. They are eventually taken out from the boxes by the dancers and spilled onto the floor in different forms.

“In the end, our memories can be mere illusions,” Hong said. “That’s why I chose the light and insignificant materials to symbolize them. They stay with you and then just disappear into the air.”

The piece features its participating dancers’ own personal memories ― one sings an old Korean pop song, “Walk to the Sky,” while another imitates the sound of a chicken and runs around. “The dancer who sings that old pop song apparently grew up singing that song all the time,” explains Hong. “Apparently her parents ran a karaoke place when she was young. The other dancer had a horrifying memory of being chased by a chicken when she was a child.”

Hong’s three-year term as the troupe’s first artistic director ends next month. He says he’s happy to leave his position “in style and glory,” as the company has been invited to perform their 2012 repertoire “Hositamtam” in Germany for three seperate occasions next month. The troupe is performing at Mainfranken Theater Wurzburg on July 8, at Kurtheater Bad Homburg on July 24 and Haus der Berliner Festspiele on July 27.

Hong said he is particularly proud of his upcoming show at Mainfranken Theater Wurzburg, which is being performed as part of the theater’s special dance event titled 2013 Ballet Gala. Other participating troupes include the Royal Danish Ballet, Het National Ballet Amsterdam and Goteborg Ballet Sweden.

“I am very confident,” Hong said. “I can stage my works at any country in the world and get rave reviews from the foreign audiences. I am confident I can pull that off every time I do a show overseas.

“But it’s often difficult with audiences in Korea. I find a lot of them simply assuming that what my troupe presents onstage shouldn’t be as good as what foreign troupes present. I have to prove them otherwise, and that is why I try to perform in foreign countries as many times as I can.”

“The Dog and The Shadow” runs from June 28 to 30 at CJ Towol Theater of Seoul Arts Center. All tickets cost 15,000 won. For more information, call (02) 3472-1420.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)