Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’s Dragons is a shimmering swirl of abstract ideas, dancing dreams and joyful energy.
South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn’s multidisciplinary extravaganza is inspired by the feelings of resilience and optimism that Asian cultures associate with dragons. These mythical creatures are traditionally feared as fire-breathing adversaries in the West. In Asia, however, the dragon is seen as a symbol of good fortune – a benevolent being that represents water, agriculture and the heavens.
This sense of reverence and vibrancy is the wind beneath the wings of an intensely immersive production. The show spotlights precise and powerful dancers, technological wizardry, flamboyant costumes, mesmerising lighting – there is plenty to look at. And the striking visuals are set to an eclectic, sometimes evocative, recorded soundtrack.
The lack of narrative means that this contemporary dance offering relies on spectacle and personal interpretation. A slow, subdued start sets the avant-garde scene and alludes to serpentine shapes. Industrial-looking silver pipes, or tubes, hang as a floor-to-ceiling curtain along the back wall and both sides of the stage. Bright lights ricochet off the aluminium, before the first dancer pokes her super-animated face out between the cascading cylinders and shuffles centre stage. Covered in fabric and holding a shorter tube – one that seems more malleable, more like a hose or a slinky – her unhurried, gently hobbling figure becomes a dragon-esque curiosity. This happens with no musical accompaniment, just gasps and giggles on the stage and intrigue and amusement in the auditorium.
Any ripples of unease soon disperse as more, odd-sock-wearing, dancers arrive. They push aside the pipes, burst through the gaps and bring non-stop momentum. The pace and scale of the movement and surrealism snowballs as dancers somersault, slide through floor routines, spin a plate, spiral, stretch, step, stamp. It is all immensely watchable, albeit slightly overwhelming.
The choreography is predominantly a blend of traditional and modern dance styles from across Asia. There are also elements of circus tumbling, body-popping hip-hop moments, earthy contemporary rolls, balletic lifts. It is busy, at times repetitive. So much so that the motion starts washing over spectators, without really saying anything or developing substantially. Still, the fluidity and exuberance in the movement language and its execution is undeniable. The overall impression is one of playfulness, interconnectedness and spontaneity.
Ahn, who is in her sixties, is joined onstage by her company of seven dancers. Men and women alike are costumed in long, flowing skirts. In some scenes the skirts worn have a lustrous metallic sheen, which suggests mermaid tails just as much as dragon scales. Throughout, the swish and sweep of the skirts complements the dancers’ shifts of weight and whirling rotations. Notably, the costumes (designed by Ahn herself, in addition to the choreography and scenography), combined with the ungendered approach to the moves performed, produce a lively, inclusive vibe.
The production also incorporates six young guest performers, from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan. All born in the year 2000 – a Year of the Dragon – they appear as holograms. The interaction between corporeal bodies and computer-generated entities is an imaginative addition that highlights constant connectivity and a network of possibilities. Similarly, towards the end of the show, many people, of all different ages, are featured in a collage of video screens. Captured performing a hand-clapping, shoulder-tapping, knee-slapping (think pat-a-cake, or hand jive, and you have the style) sequence, they straightforwardly show that dance can unite people.
Unambiguous engagement between dancers and watchers is achieved when dancers are given opportunities to introduce themselves. The dancing slows down on occasion so that a recording of each dancer’s voice can play, supplemented by projected subtitles and glimmering sparkles of light. These personal vignettes detail where and when the dancers were born, how they came to dance and their perspectives on how past and future can coexist. This recognises them as individual people with their own hopes and dreams, which helps make the journey through Dragons feel more like a shared and meaningful experience.
Magical projections not only conjure up the digital dancers and descriptive discourse for this journey, but also suggest a sense of place. Flashy technology situates the action in a flower garden, underwater, among the clouds and in some sort of maze-like technological dreamscape. The locations and effects created are colourful and everything is slickly integrated so that onstage and onscreen bodies groove together.
One of the dancers’ autobiographical accounts includes the declaration that “being a dancer is not just a profession; it makes us a source of joyful energy”. Dragons demonstrates this in weird and wonderful ways. Creatives: keep creating. Dancers: keep dancing. This world needs that energy.
Running time: Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes, with no interval.
Age guidance: 8+
Contains strobe lighting, sudden light changes and haze.
*Production photography by Foteini Christofilopoulou.
Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’s Dragons is touring nationwide thanks to support from Dance Consortium, which invites must-see international contemporary dance companies to visit venues across the UK. The regional theatres that are part of the consortium unite for the benefit of dance-loving and dance-learning audiences. Previous Dance Consortium tours include enthralling Canadian collective The 7 Fingers and celebrated South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died unexpectedly in December 2024 after a brief illness.
Opening night of Dragons at each tour venue includes a post-show Q&A (free for ticket holders).
Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’s Dragons was at Milton Keynes Theatre on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 March 2025. The UK tour continues until 26 March 2025.
Georgina Butler is an editor, a dance writer and a ballet teacher.
