Greek mythology meets Jeju folktale in modern ballet

 Kim Yong-geol’s ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ brings rare form of intercultural performance


The famous tale of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology has been made into countless films, operas and ballet pieces in the past. Former Opera de Paris dancer Kim Yong-geol’s recently staged ballet certainly added a new flavor to the timeless tale.

The modern ballet piece, which finished its two-day run last week, was a rare combination of a lot of things. There was a mixture of modern dance and ballet; gugak and opera arias; and Greek myth and Korea’s folktales from Jeju Island. The result was an original piece with a powerful exploration of love and death, mixed with concepts of Korean folklore.

The plot of the Greek legend, where the poet-musician Orpheus tries to retrieve his dead wife from the Underworld, was mixed with Korea’s shamanic, traditional images of after life.

Kim brought the images from Jeju’s well-known folktale of “Seocheon” garden. In the local tale, the garden, filled with white flowers, is portrayed as a spiritual place where the dead spirits, who died at a young age, stay before reaching nirvana. The ghosts would spend most of time taking care of flowers, without any worries and woes.

A scene from Kim Yong-geol Dance Theater’s “Orpheus and Eurydice.” (Gangdong Arts Center)

As its French words-inspired Korean title suggests, “Life, Love and Death,” the piece delved into the universal theme of Eros and Thanatos ― the way in which lust and love, so close to life itself, cannot avoid the specter of death.

Kim, who choreographed the entire piece, performed Orpheus himself, while his wife Kim Mi-ae, who currently works as a principal dancer in the National Dance Company of Korea, played Eurydice. The two showed great chemistry together, especially during the climax of piece where the two are en route to the real world from the Seocheon garden.

In the scene, Eurydice mistakenly thinks her husband does not love her anymore, and begs him to look at her face for once. Orpheus, who promised the garden’s owner ― who takes the form of a bird ― that he won’t look at her face until they return to the real world, refuses but eventually gives in.

The stage representation of the Seocheon garden was dominating. Kim used some 30,000 clusters of white plastic flowers for the piece. The flowers literally covered the stage floor, and the dancers performed amid them. When Orpheus looked at Eurydice’s face, in spite of the promise he made to the owner of Seocheon, the 30,000 clusters of flowers fell from the ceiling of the stage at once ― symbolizing death and unchangeable fate. It was one of the most striking moments of the piece.

The use of gugak certainly complemented the local shamanic images, as well as the Kims’ poignant performance.

“Orpheus and Eurydice” was a rare achievement in Korea’s ballet scene, where not many creative, Korean-themed repertoires exist. In spite of a number of flaws ― especially the quality of the performance of the troupe’s corps de ballet ― the piece meaningfully expanded the boundary of intercultural performance in the form of ballet.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)