Three choreographers born in the 1990s are exploring new possibilities for Korean dance, each through their own lens. Despite their short careers, these emerging creators have won recognition for their distinctive perspectives and staging techniques. Their works take on subjects ranging from bodies conditioned by social control to the anxiety of modern life and the cycle of frustration and recovery.
The National Dance Company of Korea will present the 2026 Choreographer Project from Nov. 6 to 8 at the Daloreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea in Seoul. Launched in 2023, the project identifies next-generation choreographers and supports them from creation through stage production. This year's participants — Lee I-seul, 36, Song Yun-ju, 31, and Sun Seung-hoon, 30 — were selected through an open call and will each present a 30-minute new work. The project marks the fifth choreographic work for both Lee and Song, and the second for Sun.
In "Can't Even Kill It," Lee examines the body that has learned to police itself after internalizing the gaze of others and social standards. Dancers use props including drumsticks, bamboo and ice to express the discipline and repression inscribed on the body. The janggu drumstick, longer than a person is tall, serves as the central symbol and carries the work's central theme. "The drumstick I encountered while learning Korean dance was an instrument for keeping rhythm, but it was also a measuring rod for correction," Lee said. "Through a bamboo-pole object shaped like a drumstick, I wanted to convey how we control ourselves in society and fail to reveal who we really are."
Song's "White Night," by a choreographer born in 1995, begins with the natural phenomenon in which night never turns dark. The work inverts the conventional reading of bright light as positive and darkness as negative, depicting the anxiety of people who live without rest. Dancers pull and shake one another to portray bodies that cannot fall asleep. Dreamlike jazz melodies and the resonance of low-register strings complete the piece. "Rather than having the audience find answers, I hope they feel a kind of comfort," Song said. "I wanted to offer it not as familiar consolation but as a different experience."
Sun, born in 1996, presents "COUNT," which grafts boxing onto Korean dance. Taking its cue from the count that gives a fallen fighter time to rise again, the work expresses frustration and recovery in life. Boxing footwork and the sense of impact are combined with traditional Korean rhythms, with live janggu drumming heightening the dynamism. Sun, who joined the National Dance Company in 2024, said, "Experiencing boxing firsthand, I felt the principles of planting your feet and moving your body resemble those of Korean dance." He added, "The intensity of an athlete and the tension a dancer feels while preparing for a performance are also alike."
Nineteen members of the National Dance Company's youth training program and five guest performers appear across the three works. Outstanding pieces will be chosen after the performances through audience evaluation and expert review, and selected works will have the chance to be developed into regular repertory for the company. Earlier participants in the project, including Choi Ho-jong, Jung Bo-kyung and Lee Jae-hwa, are drawing attention as next-generation choreographers who will lead Korean dance. Choi, who gained wide attention through the Mnet program "Stage Fighter," performed in his own work "Beasts" and won the acting prize at the 2023 Korean Dance Critics Awards, cementing his standing as an emerging choreographer.
