He Jin Jang
He Jin Jang is a multicity-based choreographer, researcher, dramaturg, curator and essayist, born and raised in Seoul, Korea. Jang has created, researched and written on the idea of & ‘choreography’; and & ‘living(surviving)’. Her choreographic works were presented at Seoul International Dance Festival (Korea), MODAFE International Dance Festival (Korea), Laboratorio Condensación (Mexico), National Museum of Contemporary Arts (Romania), WUK (Austria), American Dance Festival (US), New York Live Arts (US), The Kitchen (US), and Movement Research (US) among others. Jang’s projects were supported by Korea Arts Management Service Korea, The Saison Foundation Japan, Arts Council Korea Korea, and Seoul Foundation for the Arts and Culture. She was also invited as Knowing Dance More Artist (US, 17), Fresh Tracks Artist @ New York Live Arts (US, ‘14-15), Moving Dialogue Exchange Artist (Romania, ’11), DanceWeb Fellow (Austria, ‘11), and Artist-In-Residence @ Movement Research (US, ‘09-11).
As a curator and dramaturg, Jang has co-curated ‘Brick-Break Platform / Unthinking Theater’ in partnership with Arts Council Korea Theater with the question “How can we unthink theater?.” She has also co-curated Seoul International Choreography Workshop ('17), and Choreo-lab of Korea National Contemporary Dance Company('16) among others.
As artistic advisor/dramaturg, Jang has worked with Aesoon An Dance Project (Dramaturg, ‘19), Seoul
Dance Center (Advisory Committee, ‘15-18), Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (Advisory Committee/Dramaturg, ‘16), and James Counsins Company in UK (Dramaturg, ‘16) among others.
As a pedagog/mentor, Jang has worked as full-time Assistant Professor/Assistant Director of MFA Dance program at Hollins University from 2011-2014. During her appointment at Hollins, she has served as Thesis Mentor & Advisor for numerous seniors and MFA students. Her other teaching credits include University of Michigan(US), American Dance Festival (US), Movement Research (US), UDLAP (Mexico), and Korea National Contemporary Dance Company. She has also served as Choreo-lab Mentor at Asian Cultural Center (’19-21), and Mentor of Choreography at New York Foundation for the Arts (‘14). Currently, Jang is working as a mentor of MFA in Dance Program at The University of the Arts Philadelphia and teaching improvisation and composition at Seoul Art Institute and Seoul National University of Education. She is also a certified teacher of Franklin Method, which is a somatic method based on Dynamic Neuro-cognitive Imagery™.
PRACTICE STATEMENT
As a female neurodiversed choreographer residing in South Korea, what I am currently occupied with in my dance-making are these questions; what if how body deals with impact is the very key to embody resilience? What if we have something to learn about resilience from body’s design and rhythms to absorb shock? How would this biomimicry proposal for dance look like? How about searching for the answers in the concave and convex skeletal joints and flowing body fluids to get along with this shock-inducing world? Wouldn’t they have something to teach us about resilience in the time of grief, also in the time of resistance? Furthermore, then what are the choreographic practices to invite trans-generational resilience? What if what we have been dancing is the residue of the aftermath of the trans-generational trauma and wisdom?