▶원문기사보기 - 2009. 07. 05

By Nicholas Lane (Pacific Sunday News)

Break dancing, jazz, poppin and ballet are just some of the dance forms that will be on display when the internationally acclaimed Korean dance saga “Ballerina Who Loves B-boy” makes its debut on Guam this Friday.

Liveguam Marketing & Entertainment, the Guam Visitors Bureau and CopyXpress Photo are teaming up to bring the much-acclaimed multi-styled dance show to Guam for performances on July 10 and 11 at the Father Duenas Memorial School Phoenix Center in Mangilao.

“This is a one-of-a-kind unique performance we never saw on island,” says John Yang, president of CopyXpress Photo. “They have previous records of performing so well and being popular in other countries.”

“Ballerina Who Loves B-boy” is a non-verbal musical written and directed by Heeill Choi in which the storyline evolves by way of dance. The first scene of the show depicts a young ballet dancer named So Yun trying to practice, but she is disturbed by noise from outside. She and her friend go to investigate and discover the disturbance is caused by a breakdancing group of boys.

The two groups end up in a battle of two clashing styles of dance. From first sight of male breakdancer Seok Yun, So Yun falls in love. So Yun battles nightmares and indecision over whether or not she should stick with traditional ballet, or follow her heart in trying to become a breakdancer with the boy she loves. She eventually secludes herself until one day returning as a true breakdancer.

Critical acclaim
The production made its debut in December 2005 at Korea’s first B-boy theater in the nightlife hotspot of Hongdae. Over the last four years, “Ballerina Who Loves a B-Boy” has been watched by more than 500,000 people in 80 countries to include critically-acclaimed performances in United Kingdom and in New York, Off Broadway.

Choi Dongsin, president of Live- guam Marketing & Entertainment, says he came up with the idea to bring the group to Guam because he wanted to broaden the experiences of Guam residents by exposing them to world-class performers.

Rayla Ferrara, owner of The Talent Box dance studio, says she and her group of dancers have an interest in seeing the show because of the different kinds of dance on display.

“It’s about exposing the kids to different styles of dance, and also to see that ballet is another form of dance,” says Ferrara. She also says that the ballet aspect of the show is important to see, as the newer and more widely practiced forms of dancing usually include hip-hop.

Choi says there are 23 dancers in the show, and that it’s definitely worth seeing because it’s unique and the storyline is gripping. The show is set to the beat of many well known hip-hop and movie themes and includes an array of dance moves that have been described in several reviews of the show as “heart pounding” and “gravity defying.”