The name Ambiguous Dance Company may sound uncertain, but it perfectly captures the troupe’s identity. With movements that transcend genres, an unmistakably charged physical language and an approach that broadens the reach of contemporary dance, Ambiguous Dance Company has carved one of the most distinctive paths in Korea’s performing arts scene.
After celebrating the 15th anniversary of its hit signature piece "Body Concert" in February, the company returns with a new work, "The Belt," choreographed by its artistic director, Kim Bo-ram.
The title draws inspiration from the continuous motion of a conveyor belt — a loop that transmits one movement to the next. Like that seamless rhythm, "The Belt" portrays the accumulation of time and kinetic energy within ABC’s dancers, where past and present, present and future, flow into one another in an unbroken chain.
"'The Belt' is a condensation of the raw power that has always defined Ambiguous Dance Company," said producer Lee Hee-jin of the creative group DOT, which co-produced the work, in an interview with The Korea Herald.
"The company has consistently pushed back against the idea that contemporary dance is inaccessible. They communicate directly through raw energy. 'The Belt' is a work that embodies the company’s past, present and its vision for the future,” she added.
For Choi Hye-won, the show’s music director, composing for ''The Belt" was what she called “an extreme sport.”
“The mission was clear. Kim Bo-ram told me, ‘Just keep running for an hour.’ So I didn’t slow down, not once.”
Working from five or six musical motifs, Choi created seven or eight tracks and wove them into a single, hourlong surge. The result is a musical arc that starts by playing with rhythm and gradually accelerates toward an ecstatic, high-speed climax.
When "The Belt" premiered in London last year at the 120-year-old Coronet Theatre, it was staged as a site-specific and participatory performance — with audiences moving through the space, encountering dancers up close.
The Seoul premiere brings the work as a stage performance, expanding what Kim calls “Part Two” of the London version. A new rave-like party sequence invites the audience to dance together, blurring the boundary between performer and spectator.
Artistic director Kim reflected on the London premiere: “The response there convinced us that our language can transcend borders. 'The Belt' doesn’t aim to present a fixed idea of beauty; instead, it asks questions that awaken each audience member’s senses. I want Korean audiences to join us on this unpredictable journey.”
Founded in 2008, Ambiguous Dance Company has long championed the popularization of contemporary dance. The group gained global attention through the viral hit "The Tiger Is Coming" with Leenalchi and the Korea Tourism Organization’s "Feel the Rhythm of Korea" campaign in 2020, as well as its collaborations with Coldplay on the music videos for "Higher Power" and "Good Feelings" in 2021.
"The Belt" runs until Sunday at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
