CONTEMPORARY DANCE | NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Friday, February 26 at 7:30 pm—Followed by an opening night reception
Saturday, February 27 at 7:30 pm—Followed by an Artist Q&A

New York’s hottest contemporary dance showcase is back! Three ritual objects — a kendama, divination blocks and a white shirt — sit at the heart of this year’s program. From Japan, Tama by Ryu Suzuki finds in the trance-like rhythm of the kendama — a traditional cup-and-ball toy — a mirror for the self: tama, in Japanese, means both ball and soul. From Taiwan, Puàh-Pue—Divination Blocks by Kuo Chueh-Kai turns the casting of crescent-shaped blocks for divine answers into a fiercely physical duet about the search for certainty. And, from South Korea, Baesub Keum in Bach folds and tapes a shirt into the long white sleeves and peaked hat of seungmu, Korea’s Buddhist monk dance, waltzing with it and becoming entangled as concert violinist Jinsu Park plays Bach.