REVIEW: Hea Min Jung: Code of Engagement - A Sensory Landscape

©️ Hea Min Jung, Dmitri Djuric Photography

Berlin-based Korean choreographer and dancer Hea Min Jung invites her audience into a visceral, meditative journey that transcends the physical realm. In Code of Engagement, she dismantles the habitual boundaries between body, space, and spirit, creating a multi-sensory experience that exists somewhere between performance, installation, and ritual.

The work begins with the audience entering the theatre to find a sculptural installation: thick elastic cords stretch vertically from floor to ceiling, forming a structure reminiscent of a spider’s web. Translucent latex skins hang delicately from the ropes, evoking imagery of shed bodies, vulnerability, or transformation. Seating is arranged both traditionally and on stage cushions, establishing an intimate proximity between performer and spectator. From the moment Jung enters, her presence is enigmatic. She moves slowly and deliberately, her gestures contorting and unfolding in dialogue with an immersive soundscape of shamanic drums and low-frequency tones. The rhythm is at once unsettling and ceremonial, setting a tone that hovers between anxiety and reverence.

In the second section, the audience is gently guided out of the main theatre, along a corridor and upstairs to a backstage studio, where a second installation awaits. Here, elastic cords descend once more from the ceiling, this time interwoven with dozens of small shamanic bells arranged in a matrix. Jung enters this web-like environment and begins to move within it, her body stretching and resisting against the tension of the cords. The more she extends, the tighter the structure appears to constrict her. The dance becomes a negotiation of opposing forces, expansion and restriction, freedom and entanglement. Her movements generate not only physical tension but an audible landscape, as each interaction with the cords sets off the delicate chimes.

Returning to the main installation for the final section, Jung shifts the focus using a small illuminated baton. In an even more intimate sequence, she presses liquid latex gently onto her skin. The action is rather personal, almost voyeuristic in its closeness. Her body engages with the elastic environment again, now imbued with a sense of exposure and rawness. Pain, memory, and transformation converge in her actions.

The visual and sonic components are integral to the performance’s power. The installation was conceived in collaboration with visual artist Nagi Gianni, while the atmospheric sound design comes from James Whipple (M.E.S.H.). Together, they frame Jung’s choreography in a liminal space that feels both ancient and contemporary.

Code of Engagement draws upon childhood memories and a deeply personal tragedy, most poignantly the suicide of Jung’s grandfather, who meticulously arranged thin cords throughout his room. Jung channels these memories through the motif of tension and line, reimagining them as a ritual of healing. Her use of materials such as elastic rope, latex, and bells is never arbitrary. Each element evokes tactile, emotional resonance, inviting the audience into a sensory landscape that is at once foreign and strangely familiar.

★★★ 1/2

For more information, please visit: https://www.thecoronettheatre.com/whats-on/code-of-engagement/

Credits

Artist & Director & Producer: Hea Min Jung
Sound: James Whipple (M.E.S.H)
Performer: Hea Min Jung
Installation Assistance: Nagi Gianni
Film: Mother Offline, Bickmann & Kolde GbR

With thanks to the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture 2024.