PILGRIMAGE
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"Pilgrimage" is one of Sin Cha Hong's most enduring classics. The still, minimalist dance, performed by a company of eight dancers, is a disquisition on enlightenment.
The piece premiered in 1988 at Seoul Arts Center as its Tenth Anniversary Invitation Performance. It was performed subsequently in 1998 in the Tiger's Year Korean Festival in Germany (Berlin, Munich, Weimar). One German critic dubbed Sin Cha Hong "the Pina Bausch of Korea" (OTZ Newspaper, Weimar). The Berliner Morgen Post claimed the performance "intensely carved the existence of Korean avant-garde art onto the sensibility of German visitors" and praised the level of Korean avant-garde dance as wonderful. Subsequent performances were in 2000 in the Portugal Arts Festival; in 2003 in Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina; in 2004 in Costa Rica and El Salvador; and in 2005 in Venezuela, Guatemala and Cuba. It had its U.S. premiere at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, New York, November 6-8, 2006.
The piece is quite abstract and meditative in style. Walking on 50 centimeter wooden shoes and wearing long gowns hung from their shoulders, the dancers cannot move freely. With hands stretched over bamboo sticks on their back and shoulders, they look like they are walking on a tight rope or that they are prisoners with their hands chained and their body tied to a wooden frame. Their hands and shoulders tremble in delicate movement.
With awkward movements and without significant gestures, the dancers walk into center of the stage where, with a slight movement of their hands, they march in the shape of a wave. It indicates a symbolic pilgrimage in the endless voyage of life. The dancers remove their outer layers and bamboo sticks. There are rowing motions in dynamic rhythms, but the dancers do not hurry. Rather, their movements are static and minimalist. There is a clash between the dynamic audio effects and tranquil visual images, creating a mystical aura.
To Sin Cha Hong, the Word "pilgrimage'' means a religious journey towards enlightenment. She explains that the costumes and movement in the first section of "Pilgrimage" not only express strength, but also uniformity. It is we, human beings, in our daily lives.
The first section ends in erratic movement. The chaos reaches a peak and then dissipates as the dancers are reborn. They remove their outer layers like an insect coming out of its cocoon (or like us, emerging from womb). Sin Cha Hong explains, we are reborn young, innocent, naive and full of wonder about our surroundings. Uncertain of our new environment, we find comfort in each other and decide to "stand" once again. Our journey into this new world is characterized by a sense of awe and newness.
The sporadic falling and standing up again in the piece represents the difficulties we meet along our journey, she explains. We fall, but must pick ourselves up and begin again. The boat represents the means by which we travel toward our enlightenment. It is not made of metal nor wood but of ourselves; it is our strength as human beings. The ending of "Pilgrimage" is quirky like life itself. When we reach our journey's end, we realize that our quest for enlightenment was within us from the beginning. We are peace with this knowledge and our journey has ended.
Sin Cha Hong solos in the piece.
Choreography and Dance are by Sin Cha Hong. Lighting is by David Moody. Management is by Jeung-ja Kang. Costume design is by Kyung-in Kim. Music is edited by Masaru Soga and Myong-woo Na. There is a company of eight Korean dancers plus Sin Cha Hong.
REVIEW
"Pilgrimage"
-- Dreamlike Patterns, Delicate and Slow
by Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 2006
