K-Pop without streamlining: the indomitable Eun-me Ahn

In Seoul, the Arts Council Korea is hosting its World Summit on Arts and Culture in a theater right next to the Daehangno entertainment district with its bars, restaurants, and small stages where local newcomers cut their teeth. The aim of this world culture conference is to strengthen South Korea’s position in global culture further and make it more visible.

Every child knows the driving force behind South Korea’s export boom: K-pop. This commodity consists of boy or girl groups of meticulously trained “idols” who deliver equal parts catchy songs and elaborately synchronized dance choreography.

All-girl pop group Blackswan caused a sensation by naming Fatou Samba the first Black K-pop star. Americans such as choreographer duo Mike Song and Anthony Lee, aka Kinjaz, coach K-pop dance crews for the “Street Woman Fighter” and “Street Man Fighter” talent shows, in which battle after battle is danced as if it were a matter of life and death.

For the purposes of Korean capitalism, culture means exporting goods that are in demand on the world market. K-pop is the locomotive that is supposed to pull the rest of Korean culture along with it. Dance is only indirectly involved—for example when tutu designer Han-ah Chung draws inspiration from Korean motifs and color schemes for her expensive classical ballet costume creations.

Although quite well supported, contemporary dance is struggling to find its direction here: Should it adapt to the K-commercial model or imitate the Western avant-garde? In terms of dance, South Korea’s top exports are classically trained high-performance dancers who win ballet awards on the international stage and are admired in top ensembles from New York to Paris. And there are the breakers and waackers who triumph in battles and make their country proud at the Olympic Games. Arts Council Korea chairman Byoung-gug Choung can emphasize as much as he likes that the South Korean cultural scene is more than just K-pop and K-movies. But what about authentic authorship and creativity in this land of morning calm?

The traditional shamanistic dance culture is well cultivated in Korea. This is where it all began for the biggest star of Korean: Eun-me Ahn. She is the queen of contemporary dance, which is performed mainly at festivals in Korea. Every fall, the Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) takes place almost simultaneously with the Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance). The latter is supported by the CID International Dance Council and its aim is to steal the thunder of the World Dance Festival (WDF) organized by the competing World Dance Alliance.

The dance scene seems to be engrossed in itself as I set off to visit that indomitable legend of contemporary dance, Eun-me Ahn, in her studio, which is as well concealed as a Cold War bunker.