Voyage/ Hakkō by Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, part of A Festival of Korean Dance 2026

Festival favourite Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (KNCDC) returns with a contrasting double bill which showcases the talent and precision of the company’s dancers, including the latest work from choreographer Young-doo Jung since his 2025 Olivier Award nomination for Lear at the Barbican.

In Jung’s Voyage, a solitary spacecraft moves towards a singular point. Drawing inspiration from the Voyager deep-space probes launched in 1977 which dedicated a lifetime to venturing towards the unknown, Voyage attempts to pause the present moment and lead us into an uncharted world beyond our experience. The score intertwines the sounds of the 'Golden Record' - a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk sent into space by NASA, containing sounds which aimed to capture life and culture on Earth for aliens - with rock, classical music, and Korean traditional rhythms.

Inspired by the repetitive actions of the traditional Japanese cup-and-ball toy ‘kendama’, Ryu Suzuki’s Hakkō explores the gradual transformation of body and mind through focussed iterations of the simplest movements. The dancers enter a trance-like state of deep concentration, giving Hakkō an intense energy which draws from club culture and electronic music - a modern prayer to keep breathing in a world of perpetual flux. The performance on Friday 29 May will be followed by a Post Show Talk.