DanceWeekend19 is only 8 days away! We are excited to feature Mi Young Kim Dance Company today. Don’t miss them Saturday January 26th at 2:30pm.
Can you tell us little bit about your company/collective/school?
The Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada (KDSSC) is a charitable organization, led by artistic director and founder Mi Young Kim in Toronto. KDSSC was founded in 1979 under the name of Mi Young Kim Korean Folk Dance Institute and renamed of KDSSC in 1987 (affiliated with the Mi Young Kim Dance Company for professional dancers). It is dedicated to educating and training young people in the rich Korean dance heritage, and to spreading awareness of traditional Korean dance among the Canadian public by staging dynamic performances and all over the world.
The Mi Young Kim Dance Company is the professional dance group portion of the Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada. Working in both traditional and contemporary Korean styles, they perform and conduct workshops throughout Canada. Drawing inspirations from the cultural diversity in this country while keep referring back to her root, Mi Young Kim has done much to develop Korean dance for her multicultural audience. She strives to create a uniquely Korean–Canadian dance style. While Mi Young Kim has won numerous top awards in Korea for her dancing, her dancers have also won prizes in Canada with her choreographies, including gold awards at the Kiwanis Dance Festival of Toronto. In addition to performing actively in the community, the company presents full–evening performances every 2 years, alternating with the Soo Ryu Dance Festival.
What are showing at DanceWeekend’19?
The work will have five short traditional Creative pieces which are the Jang Go Chum, San Jo Chum, Tae Pyeong Mu, Sadang Chum and SoGo Chum.
Who are the performers/collaborators in this piece(s)?
Member of the Mi Young Kim Dance Company are;
Gui Rhan Choi –Receipient for the OAC Grant in 2016, Min Seo Kim who is an expert for the North Korean Dance, Ji Youn Sung –Member of the Seoul Art Dance Company in S.Korea w/ Eight more members.
Can you talk about your creative process? What inspires you?
The long tradition of Korean classical dance and drumming serves as my inspiration as well my own improvisation.
Please share your experience performing in a previous DanceWeekend and/or tell us what you are looking forward to at DanceWeekend’19?
DanceWeekend’18 gave us the voice and capacity to reach a broader audience. KDSSC intends to incorporated these pieces in future educational and public performance to continue to popularize Korean culture.
What is one surprising or interesting fact about your company/collective/school?
Mi Young Kim Received the Lieutenant Governor`s Ontario Heritage Award for Lifetime
Achivement in 2018 and joined of more talented members to the Company.
Do you have any up-coming performances/events you would like to share?
KDSSC will be perform on May, 2019 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts and plan to have Three Series project.