Busan, Korea – 2017
Building on the success of “Pyeoksayuhee” created the year before, “Plan B”, Busan’s production company, calls on Etienne in 2017 to create the music for a dance show.
The show is intimately related to the “Yang Do” district of Busan Port. It is a very typical, popular district, traditionally dedicated to the repair of gigantic boats. In Yang Do, it is the women, sometimes very old, who are specialized in this activity. Suspended by ropes, they tirelessly hammers the hulls of ships in dry dock to remove the used paint and rust. The hammers striking the metal in haunting rhythms and responding in space produce astonishing polyrhythms, which have earned the neighborhood its nickname: “kang kang”
In tribute to these workers forgotten in the frenetic pace of modern Korea, Plan B has designed a choreographic show where, surrounded by professional choreographers, women tell their stories through dance.
The music consists of a recorded tape which is played back during the show, in interaction with the danceers. Inspired directly by the soundscape of these shipyards, the music is mainly based on percussive polyrhythms, mixing traditional Korean instruments (the Moktak, a wooden bell used by Buddhist monks in Korea) and African instruments (sanzas, mbiras).
