'Ilmu' choreographers Jeong Hye-jin, Kim Seong-hoon and Kim Jae-duk nominated for U.S. New York Dance and Performance Awards (The Bessies); ceremony on the 20th

According to The Financial News, Ilmu, premiered by the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre in 2022, has been nominated for the New York Dance and Performance Awards (The Bessies), often dubbed the Oscars of the dance world, drawing attention to what results it will achieve.
On the 19th, the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts officially announced that its flagship repertoire Ilmu (One Dance) has achieved the distinction of being selected as an award nominee at the New York Dance and Performance Awards (the Bessie Awards), scheduled to be held on the 20th (local time).
Ilmu has been nominated in the Outstanding Choreographer/Creator category, with choreographers Jeong Hye-jin, Kim Seong-hoon and Kim Jae-duk all named as candidates side by side.
In the 41-year history of the New York Dance and Performance Awards (The Bessies), this is the first time that a work by a Korean national or public arts organization has earned a nomination for its Korean choreographers.
Ilmu is a contemporary reinterpretation of the ritual dance from Jongmyo Jeryeak, Korea’s Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 1 and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The restrained aesthetics of Korean dance embodied by choreographer Jeong Hye-jin are fused with the dynamic contemporary sensibilities of choreographers Kim Seong-hoon and Kim Jae-duk, while director Jung Gu-ho’s minimalist yet powerful mise-en-scène adds another layer, resulting in a masterpiece that transcends tradition to represent the contemporary moment. At its 2023 performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, every show was sold out, and The New York Times (NYT) praised it as a “dialectical harmony and proliferation of tradition and modernity,” lauding its artistic merit.
Launched in 1984, the New York Dance and Performance Awards (the Bessie Awards) are a globally prestigious honor, bestowed by a selection committee made up of artists, producers and critics active in New York, which chooses the most innovative works performed in the city that year. The awards cover six categories, including choreography, performance and music.
Ho-sang Ahn, president of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, said, “This nomination is a milestone that clearly proves the Sejong Center has evolved beyond a mere performance venue into a producing theater that creates world-class content,” adding, “Our strategy of building a solid repertoire through selection and concentration has resonated with the aesthetic sensibilities of contemporary audiences not only in Korea but around the world.”
Meanwhile, riding the momentum of having sold out every seat at all of its regular performances throughout 2025, the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre will present its repertoire production Speed and the new work Mugamseogi in 2026. In addition, this coming September it is scheduled to give an invited performance as the finale of the Korean Culture Festival, held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, at the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-a Reporter