A South Asian Dragon With Fire In Its Belly

You have just tonight (Saturday) to see what I can honestly say is one of the best dance productions I have had the pleasure to witness in more than a decade.

Few things stick out in your mind when you see something like six shows a month, but the magnificent Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company will stay with me for a long time to come, as will its equally amazing ‘Dragons’.

This kaleidoscope of colour, dynamism and powerful movement – an Asian fusion of ballet, contemporary and hip hop with more than a smattering of techno thrown in – is the UK’s first introduction to iconic South Korean choreographer, Eun-Me Ahn who has been dazzling Asian audiences for the past 40 years.

Remember ‘slinkies’, those helical spring toys, often made of metal or plastic, and known for their ability to ‘walk’ or tumble end-over-end down stairs or slopes?

Well, fill a stage with them – huge slinkies – adorn your dancers in the same and only then can you start to imagine the unimaginable: an amazing company and a high energy production called Dragons.

Lasting just 70 minutes with no interval, the ‘experience’, and that is probably the best thing you can call it, not only features the technical prowess of seven on stage dancers, but also a further six ‘virtual’ dancers – all born in 2000, the Year of the Dragon - projected on to the stage as holograms; they even take a bow at the end! Mesmerising!

Joe Bates, CEO of Dance Consortium, the organisation that has brought Eun-Me Ahn and her company to the West, said her work ‘deserved’ to be seen in the UK and I couldn’t agree more

Breathtakingly creative and totally captivating, Dragons is a symbolic representation of Asia’s mythical creature. However, while the West sees the dragon as something to be feared, in South Korea this fire breathing creature represents water and agriculture as well as feelings of joy and optimism.

And that’s just what a spellbound audience in Bradford’s Alhambra saw last night as they witnessed this multi-media dance spectacular during the city’s year of culture.

South Korean culture is riding a huge wave of popularity with both K-pop and Korean film being embraced by people worldwide.

Now South Korean dance icon Eun-Me Ahn, fresh from posing for a Gucci exhibition about legendary Korean artists, is not only wowing British audiences, but deserves all the praise being heaped upon her.

I cannot recommend this breathtaking show enough.

Eun-Mer Ahn Dance Company - DRAGONS
Alhambra, Bradford
Tonight Only (Saturday 22nd March)
www.bradford-theatres.co.uk