The
Northern California Korean Dance Association, a nonprofit organization created
in March of 2004 by Hearan Chung, consists of amateur dancers ranging from
five-year-olds to seventy-year-olds passionate for dance. NCKDA holds the
mission of spreading and developing Korean culture and dance, with the
objective of cultural exchange between Korea and other ethnic cultures.
NCKDA provides an opportunity for local Korean immigrants and Korean Americans
to express themselves and connect with their cultural heritage through the
arts. NCKDA hopes for local communities to be introduced to various forms of
Korean traditional and contemporary dance, drawing them closer to the Korean
culture.
Hearan
Chung
Hearan Chung, professional dancer, choreographer, and artistic director
of the Northern California Korean Dance Association, has mastered various
fields of Korean dance including Court, Folk, and creative dances, beginning
her training at age 5. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in dance from one of Korea’s
leading universities, Ewha Women’s University. With a passion to cultivate
talent in young dancers, Chung has over 20 years of teaching experience in
leading Korean universities; a great many of her students are now leaders of
dance in Korea.
Chung’s dance is characterized by elegance and her choreography incorporates
symbolic elements of water, wind, and soil to demonstrate her interpretation of
the spirit of Korea.
Throughout the span of her career, she has choreographed over 48 works of dance
and published four theses. She has been invited to perform in the US, Italy,
Japan, the UK, France,
Spain, and China. With the motive of observing
various kinds of dance from different cultures, she immigrated to the US in
2001. She then established the Northern California Korean Dance Association.
She has held several workshops at various colleges and has choreographed four
annual performances of a Korean youth musical group in San Francisco. She presented the first annual
performance of the Northern California Korean Dance Association at the San
Francisco Yugen Theater at Noh Space, and the next at the College of San Mateo
Theater. Her numerous performances include her participation in the 2002, 2005,
2007, and 2008 Ethnic Dance Festival, the Asian Art Museum and Women on the
Way. In February, 2008, Chung also performed in the “Local Heroes” performance
held by the ODC Theater, in San
Francisco. She was featured in the PBS 2006 Program
SPARK and nominated for the 2005 and 2007 Isadora Duncan Award. Chung has also
been awarded grants by the Silicon Valley Foundation in May, 2007, the Alliance
for California Traditional Arts in December, 2007, and the CA$H Dance award in
2008.
The
Northern California Korean Dance Association, a nonprofit organization created
in March of 2004 by Hearan Chung, consists of amateur dancers ranging from
five-year-olds to seventy-year-olds passionate for dance. NCKDA holds the
mission of spreading and developing Korean culture and dance, with the
objective of cultural exchange between Korea and other ethnic cultures.
NCKDA provides an opportunity for local Korean immigrants and Korean Americans
to express themselves an