Master of 'Hanguk Dance' Kim Maeja: "The title of Myungin feels awkward... I just love dancing"

Selected for Art Village Project 'Myeongin Series'
Stage Performances on 12th and 13th Next Month

Kim Maeja. (Photo by Changmu Arts Institute)

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] "I simply danced because I loved dancing, so it felt quite awkward when people called me a dancer or even a professor. Now that I have been given the title of Master, it makes me reflect on whether I have truly done well."

Kim Maeja (78), a master of Korean dance, felt shy whenever she mentioned the titles attached to her during a recent interview with Asia Economy. In Korea, artists who receive the title of ‘master’ often hold positions such as professor, chairman, or CEO, all of which she has experienced. However, these titles always felt like ill-fitting clothes. Kim Maeja said, "I am just grateful for the kind evaluation," adding, "The happiest times are simply talking about dance with my students and practicing every day."

Kim Maeja is currently busy preparing for a rare upcoming performance. She was selected for the ‘Master Series’ of the Arts Village Project, hosted by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation and organized by the Korea National University of Arts. The ‘Master Series’ was created to reexamine the life stories of masters who have devoted their lives to Korean traditional arts and to convey the artistic value embedded in their lives to the public. Following the master singer Ahn Sook-sun in 2019 and master Kim Deok-su in 2020, Kim Maeja will be the third to carry the baton. She will perform twice on July 12 and 13 at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Kim Maeja. (Photo by Changmu Arts Institute)

The performance is titled ‘Deep Summer.’ The script was written by Lee Dong-yeon, a professor at the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Traditional Arts, who held two or three discussions with Kim Maeja around last fall before naming it. It is a sequel to the 2012 performance ‘Spring Days Pass,’ which condensed her 60 years of dance life. Kim Maeja said, "As a joke, I said that spring has passed and now it must be summer or autumn, maybe even winter, but Professor Lee told me not to say that," adding, "I think the title was given because of my passion for dance."

Born in 1943 in Goseong, Gangwon Province, Kim Maeja moved south with her family. Memories of crossing the river, leaving behind her birthplace to escape the cold winter war, became the motif for her representative work ‘Ice River.’ From 1971 to 1991, she served as a professor in the Department of Dance at Ewha Womans University. She devoted herself to training students at the Changmu Arts Institute, which she founded in 1976, pioneering the field of Korean creative dance. In 1988, she was the chief choreographer for the closing ceremony of the Seoul Olympics’ ‘Departing Ship’ and presented representative works such as ‘Silk Road,’ ‘Samul,’ and ‘Eye of the Sky.’

Kim Maeja contributed not only to the creative field but also to establishing the theoretical foundation of Korean dance. Her theoretical domain is encapsulated in her work ‘Chumbon.’ ‘Chumbon I & II’ (1987?1989), which can be called the grammar of dance, is the basic framework of Kim Maeja’s dance and a philosophical exploration of the birth and methods of all dance in the world. In a survey conducted by the Korea Arts Research Institute among experts in various art fields, ‘Chumbon I & II’ was selected as the ‘20th-century Korean representative classical work’ in the dance category.

Kim Maeja. (Photo by Changmu Arts Institute)

"This performance will not feature a new work but will blend stories about the life I have lived so far. This also connects to the methodologies of the body grammar that have supported me. I plan to explain why I choreographed certain scenes and how my act of passing through the audience connects to some aspects of our tradition. Narration and videos will be used to help the audience understand easily."

Kim Maeja has performed mainly on overseas stages, touring countries such as France, Germany, Russia, and Japan to promote Korean dance worldwide. She was invited to prestigious venues such as the Kremlin State Palace in Russia, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from performing on stage. A U.S. tour planned to start in April last year was also canceled. Therefore, her expectations for this performance are particularly high. Kim Maeja said, "My overseas friends say they have been vaccinated and want to come see the performance, but I feel sorry and cannot invite them because of the two-week quarantine," adding, "Still, as more people get vaccinated and performances gradually resume, I think we can look forward to the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.