New National Contemporary Dance Company director unveils “BODYING” direction
In short
Cha Jin-yeop, the newly appointed director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company, held his first press conference on Oct. 7 and set out a new mission, an artistic direction called “BODYING” and a slate of projects running into next year. The plans include a site-based performance at Seosomun Shrine History Museum on Dec. 11–12, a November programme examining the body, and the “ERRORIST” project next June. Korean outlets framed the announcement around his three-year term and his stated aim of helping domestic creators grow.
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Cha Jin-yeop, the sixth director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company, held his first press conference since taking office on Oct. 7 and announced a new mission, an artistic direction and a set of new projects, ZDNet Korea reported. Other Korean outlets covered the plans the same day: Kukmin Ilbo quoted Cha saying that helping domestic creators grow is the company's role, and Seoul Shinmun framed the announcement as the three years he has designed. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Cha presented the new mission as questioning the times through the body and moving people and the world through dance, with the institutional vision of a “creative community we cultivate together,” ZDNet Korea reported. The artistic direction behind it is “BODYING,” which the company describes as seeing the body not as a fixed entity but as a process that is continually formed and changed within relationships. The company argues that as AI, technology and digital environments enter daily life more deeply, work exploring the value of the body and the meaning of movement becomes more important, and it plans to link BODYING to production, creative research, discourse, education and participation programmes and regional and international exchange. [ 4 ]
Cha compressed the company's aim into the phrase “No Body Moves Alone.” “I want to ask how we, who live here and now through our bodies, can coexist together,” he said, adding that the company would explore Korean-ness, contemporaneity and the nature of the body to firm up its identity. He defined Korean-ness not as reproducing traditional forms but as exploring, in works, the senses and attitudes accumulated in bodies through the time, life, history and environment of this land. [ 4 ]
Those directions take shape in his new work. The site-based performance “BEING BEING 氷,” his first since taking office, runs Dec. 11–12 at the Consolation Hall of the Seosomun Shrine History Museum. It extends the exploration of the “rounding body” series that has run since 2020 into new conditions of body, place and time, and asks how humans, vulnerable before nature and finite in body, can live together. Starting with this work, the company said it will expand performances where audiences can meet body and dance beyond theatres, in a range of places. [ 4 ]
The company is also adding projects that experiment with the creative process itself. “ERRORIST,” to be presented next June, treats uncertainty and the possibility of failure as the driving force of creation, leaving the final form and method unfixed so that unexpected results and trial and error in the process lead to new work. From next year the CTP Lab (Choreographic Thinking and Practice Lab) will run year-round as a research base where choreographers and experts from other academic and artistic fields develop questions about body, sense and relationships into creations and discourse. In November, “BODYING/BODYING” will examine the body from the perspectives of philosophy, science, art and technology through lectures, conversations and workshops. [ 4 ]
Cha was appointed as the sixth director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company on May 19, for a three-year term, ZDNet Korea reported. He studied at the Korea National University of Arts dance school and the London Contemporary Dance School and worked as a dancer on European stages, and in 2012 founded Collective A, continuing creative work based on site-specific performance, cross-genre collaboration and the fusion of art and technology, according to the report. Korea Economic Daily headlined that Cha would communicate passionately with the world through body and dance. [ 1 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The National Contemporary Dance Company is the state institution for contemporary dance creation, so the direction its new director sets shapes what audiences see on stage and which creators the company backs over the next three years. Its stated focus on the body in an era of AI and digital technology also frames a question that goes beyond dance audiences.
Key facts
- Cha Jin-yeop was appointed on May 19 as the sixth director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company, with a three-year term. [ 4 ]
- On Oct. 7 he held his first press conference since taking office and announced a new mission, an institutional vision and major new projects. [ 4 ]
- The new mission is to question the times through the body and move people and the world through dance; the institutional vision is “a creative community we cultivate together.” [ 4 ]
- The artistic direction “BODYING” treats the body not as a fixed entity but as a process continually formed and changed in relationships, and the company argues this matters more as AI, technology and digital environments enter daily life. [ 4 ]
- Cha summed up the company's aim as “No Body Moves Alone,” saying he wants to ask how people living here and now can coexist, and to explore Korean-ness, contemporaneity and the nature of the body. [ 4 ]
- New projects include the site-based performance “BEING BEING 氷” on Dec. 11–12, the “BODYING/BODYING” programme in November, “ERRORIST” next June and a year-round CTP Lab from next year. [ 4 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo quoted Cha saying that helping domestic creators grow is the role of the National Contemporary Dance Company, and Seoul Shinmun described the plans as the three years he has designed. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Korea Economic Daily headlined that Cha would communicate passionately with the world through body and dance. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Cha Jin-yeop is the director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company and set out a new mission, artistic direction and projects, as reported by several Korean outlets. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- His term as head of the company runs three years, a period Seoul Shinmun framed as the plan he has designed. [ 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Two of the four reports were readable only as headlines, so the detail of how Kukmin Ilbo and Seoul Shinmun presented Cha's plans could not be checked. Documents 2 and 3 carry only the outlet's title or summary, with no article text.
- No budget, funding, ticket or audience figures were given for any of the announced projects. Not mentioned in any document.
- The exact dates of “ERRORIST” in June and of the “BODYING/BODYING” programme in November are not specified beyond the month. A single source gives only the month, not a day.
- Document 1's article text also contains material about a National Dance Company production, “Mongyudowonmu,” which is not the same company as the National Contemporary Dance Company; the documents do not explain any link. The relationship between that material and this event is not stated.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Korea Economic Daily publishes a report headlined with Cha Jin-yeop's statement that he will communicate passionately with the world through body and dance. [ 1 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo publishes a report quoting Cha that helping domestic creators grow is the role of the National Contemporary Dance Company. [ 2 ]
- Seoul Shinmun publishes a report on the three years designed by Cha Jin-yeop as head of the company. [ 3 ]
- ZDNet Korea publishes the details of the Oct. 7 press conference: the new mission, the “BODYING” direction, “No Body Moves Alone” and the new projects. [ 4 ]