Ambiguous Dance Company: the Dance Group Behind Weirdly Wonderful Tourism Promotional Videos that Have Gone Viral | Be Korea-savvy

Ambiguous Dance Company: the Dance Group Behind Weirdly Wonderful Tourism Promotional Videos that Have Gone Viral


This photo, provided by Ok Sang-hoon, shows the Ambiguous Dance Company performing "Fever." Kim Bo-ram, the group's artistic director, is seen on the left wearing a red track suit and a vest

This photo, provided by Ok Sang-hoon, shows the Ambiguous Dance Company performing “Fever.” Kim Bo-ram, the group’s artistic director, is seen on the left wearing a red track suit and a vest

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Korea Bizwire)If you’ve ever seen their dance, chances are you probably saw it on repeat.

Ambiguous Dance Company, a group of sunglass-donning dancers showing off addictive dance moves in funky outfits inspired by Korean tradition, is the latest viral marvel to hail from South Korea.

The “Feel the Rhythm of Korea” series, tourism promotional videos showing the dancers in six Korean cities, have racked up some 145 million views on YouTube since July 30, with the most popular Busan video getting 32 million views.

People who have watched the videos have commented on how the dancers are like “Joseon hipsters” — referring to Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), a significant era in the country’s history — or “dokkaebi,” legendary creatures in Korean folklore known for their extraordinary power and mischievous stunts.

“I think those comments come from people who like us. I guess we are easier and more straightforward to understand as a modern dance group,” said Kim Bo-ram, the artistic director that has led Ambiguous Dance Company for 13 years.

While the group may seem like a sudden sensation to some, it actually goes back to 2007, when Kim, who doubled as a backup dancer for first-generation K-pop artists like Um Jung-hwa and Koyote, set up a dance group with his friends.

“We were having drinks and there was an English dictionary there. In the first few pages which had all the A-words, I saw the word ‘ambiguous’ and thought it would be nice,” Kim said. “I didn’t know it would last this long.”

Kim Bo-ram, artistic director of Ambiguous Dance Company, poses at the group's studio in southern Seoul on Nov. 10, 2020. (Yonhap)

Kim Bo-ram, artistic director of Ambiguous Dance Company, poses at the group’s studio in southern Seoul on Nov. 10, 2020. (Yonhap)

Like the group’s name, Ambiguous Dance Company is known for its genre-breaking and experimental choreography and visuals that are not constrained by convention.

In the six videos featuring the dance company, dancers frolic in each city’s lesser known tourist attractions as alternative pop band Leenalchi’s music flows in the background.

Rather than dancing on a plaza or a stage, the dancers appear in the most unlikely places, like an early morning port where fishermen are getting ready for the day or the curling arena where the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games were held.

“We filmed from around 5 a.m. to around 7 p.m. for each video. The filming at the port in Mokpo was the most challenging — the stench was so strong that we felt as if we couldn’t remember the next move,” Kim said.

“But at the same time, we could feel what the fishermen go through.

“The most fun part was dancing at the curling stadium,” Kim went on. “It was our first time visiting a curling stadium and it was also our final filming segment. Everyone was really exhausted but turned that into a positive, fun energy on ice.”

Since the dance group already owned a solid portfolio of performances, such as “Fever” and “Body Concert,” it didn’t have to create new moves for the series. The outfits for the six videos were mostly recycled from their previous works.

In the video filmed in the traditional city of Andong, the team came up with a new costume — a sparkly suit with a “saekdong,” or rainbow-striped shirts — to share the message of returning to roots while giving off the feeling of people from the future revisiting an ancient town, according to Kim.

The focus on the visual details is a central part of the dance group’s identity. One of the most prominent features of its avant-garde performance style is wearing sunglasses or goggles in most of its works.

It started off as a makeshift device to help the dancers overcome their shyness or stage fright, and then developed into a concept that aims to have the audience only focus on the body and dance moves.

In the recent videos that went viral, the sunglasses and goggles played a significant role in imbuing an eccentric yet hip vibe.

“Dancing with the sunglasses, especially the goggles, is really tough. As moisture fills inside the goggles, it feels like dancing underwater,” Kim said.

“Sometimes it’s even hard to walk on stage. Most of us have got used to it but we always make sure that new dancers train a lot before dancing in them.

This photo, provided by the Korea Tourism Organization, shows the Ambiguous Dance Company dancers performing in the "Andong" video of the "Feel the Rhythm of Korea" series.

This photo, provided by the Korea Tourism Organization, shows the Ambiguous Dance Company dancers performing in the “Andong” video of the “Feel the Rhythm of Korea” series.

“It’s become our trademark but there have to be concrete reasons why we’re wearing them. We try to discover new reasons to wear them while we sometimes do stage works without wearing sunglasses,” Kim said sheepishly, adding he still puts them on for interview shoots.

In fact, under the group’s playful and nonchalant facade lies years of self-contemplation on dancing and what it means to be a dancer in South Korea.

“What matters is not what kind of move we perform but how far we can go with expression. The move itself becomes meaningless beyond a certain point. That’s why we try to avoid choosing conclusions,” Kim said.

“What’s important is how dance can bring about various reactions from the audience. There’s no need to be funny or be tragic. The potential of the dance language is that there can be a variety of interpretations.”

In this sense, Kim said he hopes the dance company could help bring the audience close to the dance genre, which is often considered too fancy or difficult to comprehend.

“If the day comes for people here to go see a dance performance more often, like they go see a movie, I hope that the Ambiguous Dance Company could be remembered for making that contribution,” Kim said.

The veteran dancer said he had one thing he would like to make clear before the interview wrapped up.

“Someone once said ‘Being Korean is being global.’ I disagree,” he said. “It should instead be ‘Being yourself is being global.’”

“Getting to know yourself is one of the most painful processes but that should be what underlies culture, everything. … It may seem that we are popular because we did a good interpretation of tradition but it’s more because the dancers invested a lot of time to better understand our bodies. It’s an endless job.”

(Yonhap)

One thought on “Ambiguous Dance Company: the Dance Group Behind Weirdly Wonderful Tourism Promotional Videos that Have Gone Viral

  1. Lisa Yoon ( sunny yon )

    안녕하세요 저의 콜네임은 써니입니다. 저는 시애틀에서 거주하다 은퇴하고 남편과 오레곤주로 2005년 이사를 와서 병원과 갤러리리에서 봉사하며 성실하게 살고 있어요. 오늘 조선일보를 보며 앰비규어스 댄스를 처음보고 또 웹사이트에 들어가서 다 보았습니다. 한국의 전통과 유행의 기교한 조합! 정말 멋져요!, 처음 보는 순간.. 너무도 신선함이 느껴졌고 바로 이런 댄스가 많은이들에게 현대적, 창조적인 댄스, 전통을 살리면서도 ( 특히 외국인에게도) 의미와 즐거움을 동시에 줄수있다고 확신합니다. 지금은 갤러리가 바이러스로 인해 쉬고 있지만 이제 곧 다시 전처럼 돌아가면 다시 많은사람들이 모여들게 됩니다. ( 의자는 약 200석이지만 갤러리측에서 항상 엑스트라가 준비되어 있음) 그리고 대략 일년치의 예약이 완료되어 이곳에서 공연을 하시려면 보통 일년에서일년 반을 기다리는 것으로 알고 있습니다. 여기는 자그만 동네이고,그리도 귀하께서는 외국, 특히 커다란 공연만 하신다면 어쩌면 관심이 없으실 수도 있으시겠지요. 하지만 언젠가 꼭, 여기서도 한번쯤은 그 멋진 공연을 우리교민과 외국인들이 볼수 있도록 해주세요. 부탁드립니다. 여기서 산지 벌써 16년째, 처음으로 이렇게 전통을 멋지고 쉽게 전달하는 댄스보고 저는 그만 첫눈에 반했습니다. 참, 저는 갤러리에서 Greeter 로 봉사하고 있으며 또,가끔 한국인의 연주가 있으면 미리 교민들이 많은 비버톤이나 포틀랜드에 information 을 보내드리고 미용실이나 스토어, 레스토랑 주인 들도 포스터를 부쳐주시는데 아주 적극적입니다. 이상입니다. 관심을 가져주시길 진심으로 바라면서.. 읽어주셔서 감사드립니다. Stay Healthy & Stay Safe!! All of You!! Thank you.

    Reply

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