Fresh Voices in Modern Dance Converge in Brooklyn
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When Young Soon Kim founded back in 1988, she set up shop in Dumbo, Brooklyn, then a haven for scrappy artists looking for large spaces at low rents. That’s where she crafted her delicately etched choreography style, like lines of movement calligraphy mixed with cutting-edge elements such as hip hop hits, video projections and unexpected props.
Thirty years later, the Korean-American dance-maker is still entrenched in Dumbo, though the neighborhood is now more chic than shabby. Even so, Kim insists a creative pulse continues to beat beneath the gentrification, and she helps keep it pounding with the annual .
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Presented like a dance sampler, DDF offers 11 different programs, each featuring seven to 10 companies in about an hour. According to Kim, offering such a wide range of performances helps attract diverse crowds, which she sees as essential to keeping dance in Dumbo. “Of course we’re worried about the rising prices,” she admits, noting that White Wave lost its original home a while back. But now that Dumbo is a popular destination, DDF has the chance to attract new audiences. “Years ago, there wasn’t much foot traffic, but today there is,” Kim says. “Dumbo is changing a lot, but I’m still optimistic.”
Kim’s original DDF mission — to present and promote young choreographers — remains, though she now includes a smattering of midcareer companies and also prioritizes diversity. “We’re looking for fresh voices in contemporary dance,” she says. “While we sometimes have ballet companies, in general we aren’t looking for traditional dance forms. But that still leaves us open to groups that approach the content in a more contemporary way, even if it’s technically a ballet company. For me, it’s all about experimentation, broadening the boundaries of dance versus doing the same thing again and again. She points to Augusto Soledade Brazzdance, a veteran DDF participant, as a company that’s trying something new with intricate, dramatic and gender-blind partnering sequences, citing them as a subtle but essential contribution to the dance field.
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Initially, Kim considered calling the piece “I, You” but decided to widen its scope by adding “Us and We.” “It’s about how we relate to ourselves, and also to each other,” she explains. “Right now especially, we need the ‘us’ and ‘we.’ How do we figure out what the sense of ‘I’ is in the ‘we?’ We live in the world as individuals, but we actually need the community.”
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Lauren Phoenix Kay regularly contributes to TDF Stages.
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LAUREN PHOENIX KAY