Lion

In Lion, the Korean choreographer and set designer Kyung-a Ryu probes the anthropocentrism that forges our perception of the world. In response to the western scientific and distanced vision is the more immersive approach of her own culture: to be at one with nature in order to experience it with greater humility. In parallel, Kyung-a Ryu has chosen to introduce the Bukcheong or lion dance, based on a shamanic ritual, to bring into play the duality inherent in the individual in terms of culture, emotions, personality, sensitivity and the relationship with others. In the Korean tradition, the mask of the lion symbolises both the separation and fusion between living beings, humans confronted with animals and the zoomorphic figure. Thus on stage humanity and animality rub up against one another, meet, ignore one another, confront one another or merge, leading us to wonder about the possible horizontality of communication with the animal and plant world so as to think differently about civilisation today perhaps.