Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ ddanddarakim: Be Thankful, they said

Production Details / Press Releases

2023 marked the 70th anniversary of the first transnational adoption from South Korea and the critical voices of adoptees have never been louder. In Be thankful, they said, the international artistic team around Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim humorously re-appropriates clichéd adoption narratives, confronts the erasure of their identities and shows how those affected reclaim their own stories.

Based on interviews with experts, artists and activists from the South Korean diaspora, who were themselves adopted as children into Western countries, the performance traces the aftermath of a history of global entanglements that still receives little attention. A history that was not only characterized by charity and humanitarian aid intentions, but also by the reproduction of colonial structures, white savior fantasies, patriarchal oppression, forced migration and human trafficking. How do transnational adoptees reflect on their childhood in retrospect? And what political demands arise today from the lived experience of transnationally adopted people?

Be thankful, they said is a multidisciplinary artistic exploration of (pop) cultural and media images of transnational adoption and the real individual perspectives of the people affected.

ddanddarakim.net

[Source: PR-Info]

TFB Nr. 1933

Cast & Credits

Artistic Direction, Choreography: Olivia Hyunsin Kim
Dance: Daniel Jeremiah Persson
Korean Traditional Dance Coach: Ji Sun Hagen
Video design, Lights: Jones Seitz
Stage: Soojin Oh
Costumes: Kristin Gerwien, Arnita Jaunsubrena
Sound artist: Tatiana Heumann
Technical Direction: Gretchen Blegen
Dramaturgy: Maria Rößler
Outside Eye: Lena Soon Hee Meierkord
Guest appearance: Olivia Hyunsin Kim, Ji Sun Hagen
Access consulting: Hyemi Jolee
Production management: ehrliche arbeit – freelance office for culture
Transcriptions, Assistant Director: Mel Brinkmann
Graphic Design: Christian Cattelan
DGS interpreting: Hyemi Jolee, Aniella Tiedje, Lisa Leonhardt
Audio description: Hannah Aldinger, Ari Althaus, Johanna Krins
Initial movement research: Sunniva Vikør Egenes
Thanks to: kimura byol lemoine, Mirae kh RHEE, Kang Yoon Jung aka Martine Lunshof, Vic So Hee Alz, Le Dan, Maïté Minh Tâm Maeum Jeannolin, Deann Borshay Liem, Lena Soon Hee Meierkord, Chale Gobbett, Isabel, Joon Hee (Erika) Blikman, Melanie, Tobias Hübinette, Kim Sang-Mee, Do-Hyun Kim (KoRoot) and Timm Shik Therre

A production by Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim in co-production with Sophiensæle.
Supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and with funds from the Capital Cultural Fund.
Thanks to Uferstudios, PSR Kollektiv and Theaterhaus Berlin.

Sophiensæle

Sophienstraße 18
10178 Berlin

sophiensaele.com
Map

Tickets: (030) 283 52 66

Video Documentation

The video documentation is produced on behalf of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. The purpose of this contract is to document productions in the field of contemporary dance in Berlin. The master recordings are archived by the University Library of the Berlin University of Arts. Copies of the recordings on DVD are available for viewing exclusively in the reference collections of the following archives (at media desks in these institutions):

University Library of the Berlin University of Arts
Mediathek für Tanz und Theater des Internationalen Theaterinstituts / Mime Centrum Berlin
Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT)

Tanzforum Berlin