Dancer, choreographer, and vocalist Sin Cha Hong is one of Korea’s most influential contemporary performing artists. Born and educated in Korea, she came to New York City to study dance in the late 1960s, at a time when postmodern dance was still very experimental. Her work is informed by the minimalism of Western avant-garde modern dance as well as the dramatic intensity of Eastern spiritual and cultural traditions. Sin Cha Hong founded the Laughing Stone Dance Company in New York in 1981. Her dance-theater productions of strikingly bold, minimalist short pieces and evening-length works with specially composed, live musical accompaniments won critical and popular acclaim. After returning to Korea in 1990, Ms. Hong has continued to perform and tour as a soloist and with her company.
Sin Cha Hong’s newest production, Labyrinth: In the Moon-Night, premiered at the Asia Society and Museum in New York City on June 28 and 29, 2002. The production included old and new pieces based on the universal theme of the phases of the moon. Ms. Hong was joined by the master Korean musician Byung-ki Hwang on kayageum (twelve-string plucked zither), and extraordinary vocalist Kang Kwon Soon.