Biography
Jungwoong Kim, born and raised in South Korea, has been a dance/performing artist, choreographer, curator, actor, theater choreographer and arts educator for 25 years. He is trained in Korean martial arts and traditional dance/ritual of Korean shamanism, which strongly inform his aesthetic and artistic vision. Kim describes his practice as “a dynamic dialogue between my training and background in South Korean traditional dance and music and my embrace of western improvisation, especially Contact Improvisation, as a performance medium.” His performance practice spans a spectrum of improvisational solos, durational ensemble work, site-specific engagement with visual and media artists, and characterizations for mainstage and experimental theater. He has performed with noted Contact Improvisors such as Karen Nelson and Christine Simpson.
Kim teaches workshops nationally and internationally that focus on movement, deep listening, and observation practices as a form of thinking that we can apply to any aspect of life, be it dancing, making, or being in the world. He has been adjunct faculty at Temple University (Philadelphia PA), University of the Arts (Philadelphia PA), and Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster PA), and been a visiting teaching artist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Boston MA), and Richmond University (Richmond VA). He regularly leads workshops for the Hothouse repertory company of Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, and has led improvisation workshops across the U.S. and in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
His work has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Independence Foundation, and the Knight Foundation among other funders.