Voyage & Hakkō by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company FRI 29 - SAT 30 MAY 19:30 | The Place Festival favourite Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) returns with a contrasting double bill which showcases the talent and precision of the company’s dancers, including the latest work from choreographer Young-doo Jung since his 2025 Olivier Award nomination for Lear at the Barbican. In Jung’s Voyage, a solitary spacecraft moves towards a singular point. Using upbeat, lyrical choreography juxtaposed with a tongue-in-cheek classical score, Voyage playfully oscillates between colour-drenched minimalism and moments of joyful communion. Inspired by the repetitive actions of the traditional Japanese cup-and-ball toy ‘kendama’, Ryu Suzuki’s Hakkō explores the gradual transformation of body and mind through focussed iterations of the simplest movements. The dancers fight to assert independence within the complex patterns of the horde, giving Hakkō a trancelike, frenetic energy which draws from club culture and electronic music - a modern prayer to keep breathing in a world of perpetual flux. This performance will be followed by a Post Show Talk. ● “An hour of extraordinary dance and mesmerising choreography.” (Seeing Dance on Jungle (2025)) About the company: Korea’s only national contemporary dance company, KNCDC collaborates with artists of outstanding creative vision to create contemporary dance works that reflect history, society, and everyday life in modern Korea—resonating with audiences across regions and generations. In May 2023, choreographer Sung-yong Kim was appointed as the fifth Artistic Director of KNCDC. www.kncdc.kr IG: @kncdc About Young-doo Jung: Young-doo Jung is a choreographer, director, dancer and actor who experiments with a wide range of forms and systems in choreography and composition, focusing on margins, breaths and subtle changes rather than excessive movement. His work aims to handle the density and rhythm of movement with delicacy. Jung began his career as a theatre actor in 1992. He later majored in choreography at the School of Dance at Korea National University of Arts. In 2003, he founded the dance company Doo Dance Theater and began his choreographic practice. He undertook a residency at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours in 2004 and completed the composition workshop led by Susan Buirge at Royaumont in 2004 and 2006. Jung also participated in the Grand Atelier project in 2007. He taught technique, choreography, and composition at Rikkyo University in Japan (Department of Body Expression and Cinematic Arts) from 2013 to 2017. He also served on the faculty of the Korean National University of Arts (School of Choreography and School of Korean Traditional Arts) from 2018 to 2021. His major works include the opera Hwajeonga (2025), the Korean traditional music theatre (changgeuk) Lear (2022), With (2022), In the Land of Punctuation (2021), Symphony in C (2018), Fugue (2015), A Seventh Man (2003), and Craving for More (2003). In 2025 he was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Opera at the Laurence Olivier Awards for Lear. He has also won the Choreographer of the Year Dance Arts Award from Monthly Dance in 2005, and the Yokohama Arts Foundation Prize and French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographer, Yokohama Dance Collection, in 2004. About Ryu Suzuki: Ryu Suzuki is a choreographer developing a distinctive language within the Japanese contemporary dance scene. Born and raised in Japan, Suzuki graduated from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance with a first-class honours degree. Whilst at Rambert, he was chosen to appear in ItzikGalili's A Linha Curva in Rambert Dance Company's UK tour. After graduating, he joined Phoenix Dance Theatre under the artistic direction of Sharon Watson. Since leaving Phoenix in 2012, he has worked with Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Philippe Decouflé, Tero Saarinen, Inbal Pinto/Avshalom Pollak, Ella Rothchild, Tristan Sharps, Motoko Hirayama, Ryohei Kondo and Kenta Kojiri, amongst many others. As a choreographer, he has created works for prestigious dance institutions including Dance Base Yokohama (Japan), AURA Dance Theatre (Lithuania), Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (India), Suginami Ballet Union (Japan) and more. His pieces have been performed domestically and internationally, in the U.K., Spain, Italy, France, Romania, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and China. Agnus (2013) won the Session Best Prize from Kagurazaka Session House, whilst BU won the Prize for Young Choreographer from the French Embassy, the MAZDANSA Prize and the FITS Award from Sibiu International Performing Arts Festival. He was Associate Choreographer at Dance Base Yokohama from 2020 to 2023, and is now its Resident Choreographer. Credits: Lighting Designer: Jung-hwa Kim Lighting Director: Hyunji-Lee Stage Manager: Eun-jin Jo Sound Director: Dong-june Lee Voyage Choreographer: Young-doo Jung Movement co-creation & Dancer: Da-som Kang, Yu-jin An, Soo-yeon Lee, You-jin Lee, Jin-woo Lee, Hyeon-soo Jeon, Sun-min Jung, Yoon-hee Choi Composer & Music Director: Jae-rock Park Costume Designer: Young-jin Kim Hakkō Choreographer: Ryu Suzuki Dancers: Myeong-seon Kim, Eun-joo Kim, Joo-ho Roh, Min-ji Park, Jun-young Park, Mo-sung Ok, Jeong-eun Lee, Jong-ung Jeong Composer & Music Director: Tatsuki Amano Costume Designer: Ho-jin Jeong Age: 11+ Duration: 60 mins (no interval) Tickets: https://theplace.org.uk/events/summer-26-voyage-hakk%C5%8D/?token=RKnN0eh0WtJ9tC5fTSOP7_NywfNN6Ynx&x-craft-preview=he8cYlIGYp

Voyage & Hakkō by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company TUE 26 – WED 27 MAY 20:00 | Lowry Festival favourite Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) returns with a contrasting double bill which showcases the talent and precision of the company’s dancers, including the latest work from choreographer Young-doo Jung since his 2025 Olivier Award nomination for Lear at the Barbican. In Jung’s Voyage, a solitary spacecraft moves towards a singular point. Using upbeat, lyrical choreography juxtaposed with a tongue-in-cheek classical score, Voyage playfully oscillates between colour-drenched minimalism and moments of joyful communion. Inspired by the repetitive actions of the traditional Japanese cup-and-ball toy ‘kendama’, Ryu Suzuki’s Hakkō explores the gradual transformation of body and mind through focussed iterations of the simplest movements. The dancers fight to assert independence within the complex patterns of the horde, giving Hakkō a trancelike, frenetic energy which draws from club culture and electronic music - a modern prayer to keep breathing in a world of perpetual flux. This performance will be followed by a Post Show Talk. ● “An hour of extraordinary dance and mesmerising choreography.” (Seeing Dance on Jungle (2025)) About the company: Korea’s only national contemporary dance company, KNCDC collaborates with artists of outstanding creative vision to create contemporary dance works that reflect history, society, and everyday life in modern Korea—resonating with audiences across regions and generations. In May 2023, choreographer Sung-yong Kim was appointed as the fifth Artistic Director of KNCDC. www.kncdc.kr IG: @kncdc About Young-doo Jung: Young-doo Jung is a choreographer, director, dancer and actor who experiments with a wide range of forms and systems in choreography and composition, focusing on margins, breaths and subtle changes rather than excessive movement. His work aims to handle the density and rhythm of movement with delicacy. Jung began his career as a theatre actor in 1992. He later majored in choreography at the School of Dance at Korea National University of Arts. In 2003, he founded the dance company Doo Dance Theater and began his choreographic practice. He undertook a residency at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours in 2004 and completed the composition workshop led by Susan Buirge at Royaumont in 2004 and 2006. Jung also participated in the Grand Atelier project in 2007. He taught technique, choreography, and composition at Rikkyo University in Japan (Department of Body Expression and Cinematic Arts) from 2013 to 2017. He also served on the faculty of the Korean National University of Arts (School of Choreography and School of Korean Traditional Arts) from 2018 to 2021. His major works include the opera Hwajeonga (2025), the Korean traditional music theatre (changgeuk) Lear (2022), With (2022), In the Land of Punctuation (2021), Symphony in C (2018), Fugue (2015), A Seventh Man (2003), and Craving for More (2003). In 2025 he was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Opera at the Laurence Olivier Awards for Lear. He has also won the Choreographer of the Year Dance Arts Award from Monthly Dance in 2005, and the Yokohama Arts Foundation Prize and French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographer, Yokohama Dance Collection, in 2004. About Ryu Suzuki: Ryu Suzuki is a choreographer developing a distinctive language within the Japanese contemporary dance scene. Born and raised in Japan, Suzuki graduated from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance with a first-class honours degree. Whilst at Rambert, he was chosen to appear in ItzikGalili's A Linha Curva in Rambert Dance Company's UK tour. After graduating, he joined Phoenix Dance Theatre under the artistic direction of Sharon Watson. Since leaving Phoenix in 2012, he has worked with Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Philippe Decouflé, Tero Saarinen, Inbal Pinto/Avshalom Pollak, Ella Rothchild, Tristan Sharps, Motoko Hirayama, Ryohei Kondo and Kenta Kojiri, amongst many others. As a choreographer, he has created works for prestigious dance institutions including Dance Base Yokohama (Japan), AURA Dance Theatre (Lithuania), Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (India), Suginami Ballet Union (Japan) and more. His pieces have been performed domestically and internationally, in the U.K., Spain, Italy, France, Romania, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and China. Agnus (2013) won the Session Best Prize from Kagurazaka Session House, whilst BU won the Prize for Young Choreographer from the French Embassy, the MAZDANSA Prize and the FITS Award from Sibiu International Performing Arts Festival. He was Associate Choreographer at Dance Base Yokohama from 2020 to 2023, and is now its Resident Choreographer. Credits: Lighting Designer: Jung-hwa Kim Lighting Director: Hyunji-Lee Stage Manager: Eun-jin Jo Sound Director: Dong-june Lee Voyage Choreographer: Young-doo Jung Movement co-creation & Dancer: Da-som Kang, Yu-jin An, Soo-yeon Lee, You-jin Lee, Jin-woo Lee, Hyeon-soo Jeon, Sun-min Jung, Yoon-hee Choi Composer & Music Director: Jae-rock Park Costume Designer: Young-jin Kim Hakkō Choreographer: Ryu Suzuki Dancers: Myeong-seon Kim, Eun-joo Kim, Joo-ho Roh, Min-ji Park, Jun-young Park, Mo-sung Ok, Jeong-eun Lee, Jong-ung Jeong Composer & Music Director: Tatsuki Amano Costume Designer: Ho-jin Jeong Age: 11+ Duration: 60 mins (no interval) Tickets: https://thelowry.com/whats-on/double-bill-voyage-hakko-rtr7

Burnt Offering by 99 Art Company MON 18 MAY 19:30 | Dance City A danced ritual for our times. Burnt Offering, winner of the Best Production Award at the 2nd Seoul Arts Awards, invites us to consider what new rituals we need, what we might pray for, and how we can draw on the traditions of the past. Based on the traditional dance ‘Seungmu’, it uses traditional Korean music and movement to express contemporary stories. Dancers gather at the altar and offer their sacrifices one by one. They are engrossed in repetitive daily routines, searching for meaning, and the clouds of incense seeping across the stage envelope their senses and stir their imagination. In a world that grinds us down, this is a ‘burnt offering’ for meaning, beauty and peace. ●★★★★ “Burnt Offering’s meaningful work illustrates that art, faith, and life are all cyclical, even if there are many differences each time around. (The Reviews Hub) About the company: Founded in 2014, 99 Art Company is a group of like-minded artists led by choreographer Hye-rim Jang, who focus on expressing Korean traditions through contemporary stories. Since Hye-rim Jang was selected as Best Choreographer by Critics’ Choice in 2015, the company has participated in major platforms including the Seoul International Performing Arts Festival (2016, 2018, 2020) Italy’s Operaestate Festival (2019), the Russian Open Look Festival (2020), the Italian Cultural Institute (2021), the Brazilian SESC Dance Biennale (2021), and Singapore’s SIFA (2023). The company remains committed to meaningful artistic encounters, creating works that resonate deeply with audiences around the world. IG: @99artcompany Credits: Choreographer and Dancer: Hye-rim Jang Age: 11+ Duration: 60 minutes Tickets: https://www.dancecity.co.uk/performance/299499/kontemporary-korea-burnt-offering/

GRAVITY by Ryu and Friends FRI 15 MAY 19:30 | The PlaceSwept up by an invisible force, an eleven-strong company shakes, scatters and spins in a spectacular extraterrestrial dance. GRAVITY is a work about relationships between all matter; the push and pull, the chaos, the harmony, the awe and the grace, of life in the universe. Experimental choreographer Jang-hyun Ryu stages a universe in motion where energy mutates, transforms and sets alight, configured through dynamic interactions, floating orbs and a tremorous, otherworldly soundscape. Experience the extraordinary skill and energy of this celebrated Korean company, performing in the UK for the first time. Content Awareness : this performance contains haze and fire About Ryu and Friends: Jang-hyun Ryu is fast developing a reputation for his daring and mischievous choreographic work which draws inspiration from theatre, film and music as well as traditional Korean dance. As the Artistic Director of Ryu and Friends, he reconfigures mundane, daily life into surprising and fresh movement shot through with an unmistakable sense of humour. He calls himself 'a man building the bodies', speaking to his company's belief that each individual carries unlimited potential, which can be activated through dance. The company's previous works include BLACK (2024), CONOLOGUE (2022), Tragos Ode (2021), Metamorphosis (2019), I Don't Want to Die (2019), A Girl with Many Wrinkles (2018), Fresh-caught Dance (2017), Adrenaline Drive (2017), On Top of the Blade (2016), Jokes (2016) and PIANO (2013). Credits: Director & Choreographer & Sound: Jang-hyun Ryu Lighting Design: Ji-hye Kang Costume Design: Kyung-sool Bae Producers: Jung-eun Lee, Jung-hyun Park Age: 13+ Duration: 65 mins without interval Tickets: https://theplace.org.uk/events/summer-26-gravity

Burnt Offering by 99 Art Company FRI 15 MAY 19:30 | Pavilion Dance South West A danced ritual for our times. Burnt Offering, winner of the Best Production Award at the 2nd Seoul Arts Awards, invites us to consider what new rituals we need, what we might pray for, and how we can draw on the traditions of the past. Based on the traditional dance ‘Seungmu’, it uses traditional Korean music and movement to express contemporary stories. Dancers gather at the altar and offer their sacrifices one by one. They are engrossed in repetitive daily routines, searching for meaning, and the clouds of incense seeping across the stage envelope their senses and stir their imagination. In a world that grinds us down, this is a ‘burnt offering’ for meaning, beauty and peace. ●★★★★ “Burnt Offering’s meaningful work illustrates that art, faith, and life are all cyclical, even if there are many differences each time around. (The Reviews Hub) About the company: Founded in 2014, 99 Art Company is a group of like-minded artists led by choreographer Hye-rim Jang, who focus on expressing Korean traditions through contemporary stories. Since Hye-rim Jang was selected as Best Choreographer by Critics’ Choice in 2015, the company has participated in major platforms including the Seoul International Performing Arts Festival (2016, 2018, 2020) Italy’s Operaestate Festival (2019), the Russian Open Look Festival (2020), the Italian Cultural Institute (2021), the Brazilian SESC Dance Biennale (2021), and Singapore’s SIFA (2023). The company remains committed to meaningful artistic encounters, creating works that resonate deeply with audiences around the world. IG: @99artcompany Credits: Choreographer and Dancer: Hye-rim Jang Age: 11+ Duration: 60 minutes Tickets: https://www.pdsw.org.uk/events/kontemporary-korea-burnt-offering/