YBCA Presents a Multi-Part Theatre Performanceby Korean Artist Dohee Lee: MU–Connector/When the land stands alone

Portrait of Dohee Lee. Courtesy of YBCA.

(San Francisco, CA – June 1, 2023) – Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is pleased to announce MU–Connector/When the land stands alone, a multi-part theater performance created by Korean shamanistic performance artist and choreographer Dohee Lee. MU–Connector/When the land stands alone is a serialized ritual and theater experience, which will be hosted at YBCA on Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 from 7:00-9:30 pm. Tickets for the series can be purchased here.

The performance explores ancestral traditions transmuted through dance, singing, drumming, and storytelling, weaving together electronic soundscapes, an altar installation, and community participation to create a communal creative ritual experience. Built from collective community healing rituals, MU–Connector delves into our myths, ancestral land, history, and stories, while also reflecting on wounds suffered and inflicted through systemic oppression in the U.S. and our homelands.

This theater experience will include performances from Asian Refugees United’s The Storytellers’ Group with Manose Singh (Mero Geet Mero Yatra: My Song My Journey), CoRazOn/CRE Cohorts, Mu Ritual Drummers, and Puri Arts Collectives.

“The big inspiration behind MU-Connector/When the land stands alone, is really my own ancestral land, back to JeJu Island, where they are still confronting the impact of the military base being built, which is really destroying the sacred land and people too,” said Dohee Lee. “I want people to think about their ancestral land, their ancestors, their stories and histories and how those are connected to our own body, ourselves, and our responsibilities living on this land”

Lee’s comprehensive scope of work ranges from solo performances to full-scale theater productions. The artist utilizes cutting-edge wearable wireless controller technology to seamlessly integrate acoustic and electronic sounds, video projections, dance, vocals and rhythm. Throughout her work, she emphasizes the mythical, experimental, ritualistic, historical and healing aspects of performance and installation, catalyzing new relationships between identity, nature, spirituality, and the political.

“Dohee Lee is a truly visionary artist. Drawing upon the timeless power of music, theater, and community, she takes us on a captivating exploration of ancient ritual traditions and contemporary expressions” said Jodi Cobalt, YBCA’s Head of Performing Arts & Special Events. “As we navigate an era marked by disconnection and uncertainty, rituals serve as anchors, grounding us and providing a sense of stability, purpose, and shared experience in a fragmented world.”

As part of the programming around Dohee Lee’s performance series at YBCA, there will be a screening of the new film I Hear A Butterfly created by Asian Refugees United on Sunday, June 25, 2023. Featuring Asian refugees and immigrant community members, this new short film shares their vibrant stories of migration, resilience and collectives. For screen times and more information please visit: ybca.org/event/i-hear-a-butterfly

For more information please visit https://ybca.org/.

About Dohee Lee

Dohee Lee weaves her multiple virtuosities in drumming, dancing, and singing into immersive ritualized theatrical creations. Born on Jeju Island, Korea, she trained at the master-level in music and dance styles rooted in Korean shamanism. In 1998, Lee moved to Oakland, CA, to create a new art form. Since then, she has become an award-winning traditional and contemporary arts performer, collaborating with Kronos Quartet, Anna Halprin, inkBoat, Degenerate Art Ensemble and many others.

About Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Opened to the public in 1993, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) was founded as the cultural anchor of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. Our work spans the realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and public life. Centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the communities it serves. For more information, visit https://ybca.org.

PRESS INQUIRIES

Ed Winstead
Vice President, Cultural Counsel
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Jo Urtasun
Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel
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