Stripping Street Performances Down to Their Basic Elements: Liquid Sound
Liquid Sound, a performance collective founded in 2015, is set to take the world by storm with their innovative approach to traditional Korean arts. Their latest work, "OffOn: Yeonhee Project 2", is a contemporary dance performance that reimagines traditional Korean performing arts by deconstructing and rebuilding their core elements through modern movement.
The choreographer for this captivating production is Shim Ju-young, who is fascinated by the creative potential of traditional elements when broken apart. In "OffOn: Yeonhee Project 2", Liquid Sound removes traditional identifiers such as costumes and instruments to explore what remains in the performers' bodies and movements when stripped of these elements.
The performance was presented at Seoul's Sejong Center during the Sync Next summer festival. Here, Liquid Sound used contemporary dance language to expand the expressive possibilities of traditional Korean performance, transforming a centuries-old cultural form into a new sensory experience that engages modern audiences without relying on historical costumes or instruments.
"OffOn: Yeonhee Project 2" features segments drawing on seoljanggu, a traditional Korean solo janggu drum showcase, and piroji, a moment in folk performance when female dancers take the stage. In the piroji segment, male dancers join the female dancers, layering the rhythm with new textures.
The show's title, "OffOn: Yeonhee Project", refers to the broad term for traditional Korean performing arts such as pungmul, mask dance, shamanistic rituals, puppet theater, traditional circus, and folk music and dance. The vision is for yeonhee artists and dancers to blend so seamlessly that they create an entirely new genre.
Liquid Sound plans to continue its experimental exploration of traditional performance with the third edition of the Yeonhee Project next year. The group's name, Liquid Sound, reflects their sensory ambition of merging tactile fluidity with the auditory experience of music.
Shim Ju-young, the choreographer, hopes for a future where the fusion of traditional and modern elements is so natural that they can't be told apart. Later this year, Liquid Sound will take its work to several major festivals, including the Busan Street Art Festival, the Performing Arts Market in Seoul, and an outdoor performance in Myeongdong hosted by the National Theater Company of Korea.
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The choreographer, Shim Ju-young, intends to blend traditional and modern elements in such a way that their distinction becomes indiscernible, as she explores new sensory experiences in the fashion-and-beauty and lifestyle domain by redefining traditional Korean performing arts. Liquid Sound, with their experimental approach, delve into reimagining traditional Korean elements in food-and-drink presentations and home-and-garden aesthetics, as they plan to showcase their work at various festivals.
In the future, Liquid Sound aspires to present a fusion of aesthetics, where traditional Korean cultural elements seamlessly blend with contemporary styles, transforming the world's perception of traditional Korean arts while offering fresh, innovative liquid soundscapes.
