The M Ballet Company will perform the original ballet work 'Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven' on the 16th at the CJ Towol Theater in the Seoul Arts Center.
'Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven' is the representative work of the M Ballet Company, celebrating its 10th anniversary of creation. Artistic Director Moon Byung-nam choreographed the piece, and Yang Young-eun, the director of M Ballet Company, wrote the script and directed it. It premiered in 2015 as a selected work supported by the Dance Creation Workshop. In 2021, it was co-produced as an original ballet at the Seoul Arts Center, and in 2022, it was selected as the opening work of the 12th Korea Ballet Festival. In 2023, it was selected for the Performance Distribution Cooperation Support Project by the Arts Management Support Center and was performed eight times in the metropolitan area and Chungbuk region. Last year, it was staged at the CJ Towol Theater in the Seoul Arts Center with sponsorship from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.
'Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven' is a work inspired by the last will of patriot Ahn Jung-geun, aiming to portray his life and philosophy as he dreamed of peace and independence for the country even facing death.
The M Ballet Company announced that this year is the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation and also marks the meaningful year ahead of the 115th anniversary of Ahn Jung-geun's martyrdom on the 26th, so they have revised and supplemented the work. In particular, they explained that they modified the music and choreography to convey the weight of Ahn Jung-geun’s anguish more deeply in the scene where, after releasing captured Japanese soldiers according to international law, he barely returns to the Maritime Province, having lost many troops due to his location being exposed, and dreams while on the brink of death. They also sought ways to incorporate parts of 'The Peace of the East,' written in prison, in Ahn Jung-geun’s handwriting into the production to convey his peace ideology, which hoped for peace in East Asia even just before his death.
The role of Ahn Jung-geun is performed by ballerino Yoon Jeon-il, and the role of Ahn Jung-geun’s wife, Mrs. Kim Ah-ryeo, is played by ballerina Jang Yoon-seo. Yoon Jeon-il has participated in 'Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven' for many years, and Jang Yoon-seo is a dancer who recently graduated from the Korea National University of Arts and won the silver medal in the women’s category at last year’s Kozlova International Ballet Competition.
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