REVIEW: Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’s Dragons at Mayflower Theatre

‘Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’s Dragons’ is the latest performance presented by the Dance Consortium to grace the stage of Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre. ‘Eun-Me Ahn’ is one of South Korea’s most celebrated choreographers who focuses on the joy of dance in fusing both modern and traditional styles from all across Asia. ‘Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’ is a small company consisting of only 7 live dancers (plus Eun-Me). You may be wondering why I said ‘live’ dancers, and that’s because of the magic of this particular dance and Eun-Me’s style. ‘Dragons’ comprises lots of different themes with the facade of a dragon, the animal for the year 2000. To save this moment in time, Eun-Me’s company dances with holograms of six young performers (from all across Asia), that as she says “so the youth can travel with us wherever we go in place and time”. This is such an innovative and impressive idea brought to life, and how exciting that we get to see such a cultural piece of dance thanks to the Dance Consortium.

With ‘Eun-Me Ahn’ being celebrated throughout South Korea and Asia, she is not shy of a big event with her company having performed at the likes of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Having toured the world, believe it or not, this is actually ‘Eun-Me Ahn’s’ first time touring in England - and what a pleasure that Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre was their first ever performance on English soil. ‘Dragons’ hits on a few different themes including the dual nature and understanding of what a dragon is perceived as, the interaction of how the past and future can coexist, and I think you can really see the political factors of colour that contradicts from the movement of dance and the country that it has come from.

This whole company were all magnificent. All of the dancers clearly lose themselves in the moment and you can feel the passion and exchange of energy come across in that auditorium. As I’ve said before, these people aren’t just dancers - they’re athletes. I’ve got to say that to begin with and throughout, all I kept on thinking was how bonkers this dance was. From the movement, to the set and design, the lighting, and obviously the phenomenal projections. The fuse between technology and movement is the exact point of the whole dance and it really comes across in each mini segment of this dance. The energy is turned up to 150% the whole time, and in the programme it says that the show is meant to spread and represent lightness, joy, and optimism. And it does exactly that.

As I said earlier, a big part of this dance is the projection mapping and design which is out of this world. It’s much like something you’d see in ‘ABBA Voyage’ but with pure dance and energy. The holograms of the dancers are truly incredible. But on top of this, the projection effects are also inspiring. From the bubble effect, to the water dives, to the arches, and even the trees. You can really see why this is such a globally renowned piece of dance and I still can’t believe that I was lucky enough to see such a piece of cultured art in a local theatre. The costumes (which were also designed by Eun-Me) are wacky and wild, but spread a real level of joy as they were intended. The way they flow with the dancers, or signify parts of the dragon/story is brilliant. I also like how they hide some of the dancers and make it seem as if some theatre magic is going on. It’s playful and inventive, and something that you just don’t generally see very often. To quickly touch on the outside of the set, there is a curtain down at the front of the stage for the whole of the show (this is for the projections) and the rest of the stage is encaged with tubes that get interacted with by the company. Without spoiling anything, this is such an interesting factor that you may not think anything of, but they actually play a big role in the portrayal of the themes.

One thing I’ve not even mentioned yet is the lighting and music. The music used is a perfect mix of a traditional score with contemporary pop. The lights also match this excellently. I have to be honest when I say that after the first 5 minutes, I was worried as to whether we would be in a for a long night as the pace was very slow. But then to my surprise, I have never experienced such a quick 180º turn in both pace and energy. The lighting is also extremely clever. From flashing lights in time with the music, to singling out individual dancers, and using colour to not only express mood but also season/theme/location. The combined synergy of the lights, the music, the set, the costume, the projections, and of course the dancers creates what can only be described as a beautiful piece of dance. Truly inspirational.

You can really tell how hard the whole company work together, and how polished each of these dancers are. We are incredibly lucky in having the opportunity to see a company like this and that is all thanks to the Dance Consortium. I particularly like that some of the Dance Consortium productions have a Q&A section afterwards, where you get to question some of the dancers and creatives behind what you have just watched. In the case of ‘Dragons’, without this Q&A giving a bit of context to the dance/explaining some of he creative choices, I would’ve been confused about what I had just watched. But the Q&A did its job and answered all of these questions. The aim of the Dance Consortium, is to get more people talking about dance and thus get more people watching it. I think the energy and enthusiasm from Eun-Me in the post show - shows exactly what it means to not only the consumer of dance, but also those creating it.

‘Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company’ are continuing on their UK tour of ‘Dragons’ until March 2025, and if dance or futuristic storytelling is something that interests you then you should definitely find time to give them a watch. I can’t wait to see what the Dance Consortium brings to Mayflower theatre’s stage next and I wish the whole company of ‘Eun-Me Ahn’ the best of luck in the rest of their time in the UK.