Presented by the Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada (KDSSC)
The 2025 edition of SooRyu Kickoff: Symbiosis II explores the creative exchange between cultures, bodies, and artistic voices in contemporary Canada. This three-day event will feature performances, workshops, and networking opportunities that bring together Korean, Indigenous, and diverse Canadian dance artists.
Main Performance – October 11, 2025 (4:00 PM)
Main Auditorium of the Korean Canadian Cultural Association
1133 Leslie St., North York
Artistic Director: Miyoung Kim
Featured Artists:
- Mi Young Kim Dance Company (KDSSC)
- Masan Branch of the Korean Dance Association (South Korea) – Presenting “A Letter to Dance”
- Light Sound Friends (South Korea)
- Zab Maboungou
- Hendry Massamba
- Hyang Ok Kim
- Dorothy Leung
- Eun Ji Kim
- Sunny So
- Ella Shi
- Manuel García
- Luis Minutti
Tickets : $25 (General) / $15 (Senior Ticket) / Festival Pass: $45 (Main Performance + 3 workshops)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/943010087557?aff=oddtdtcreator
Call or email to e-transfer: (416) 366-7723
kdsscinfo@gmail.com
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Instagram : instagram.com/thekoreandancestudies
STAFF
Project Coordinator: Nancy Baltazar
Lighting Design: Gabriel Cropley
Video and Photography
Graphic Design: Phillip Lee
Costumes: HyangOk Kim, Nancy Baltazar
THIS EVENT IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF:
Canada Heritage
Overseas Korean Foundation
Ontario Arts Council
Toronto Arts Council
Gyeongsangnam Provincial Government
PRIVATE SPONSORS:
Constance Chang
Soon Ok Cho
Francis Kim
So Jeong Lee
Viewzen Jewelry
Soon Ku Yu
greetings
workshop
Workshop Series – October 10, 2025 (6:00–9:00 PM)
Location: 1133 Leslie St., North York. Korean Canadian Cultural Centre (KCCA) – Second Floor Auditorium
$10 per workshop – PAY AT THE DOOR
6:00PM – Kunqu Theatre Workshop
Step into the elegance of Kunqu, one of China’s oldest and most refined opera traditions. Guided by artist Ella Shi, this workshop explores the graceful movements, expressive gestures, and poetic storytelling that define Kunqu theatre. Perfect for anyone curious about classical performance art and its timeless beauty.
7:30PM – K-Motion Workshop
This workshop introduces participants to Korean dance through two engaging pieces.
Blackpink’s Jump, led by Jeong Min Hwang, offers an easy-to-follow reconstruction of the original work, while Song Ga-in /Mom’s Arirang, hosted by Jeong Seon-yu, transforms a beloved Korean trot into a lively line dance blending basic Korean movements with simple steps.
Supported by assistant instructors Gaehoa Seo, Jinmi Park, Eunbi Jeong, Yoo Jin Yoon, Min Jeong-ryu, and Min Seo-hong, it promises an inviting and well-guided experience for all.
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Mi Young Kim
Artistic Director and Choreographer
Born in Seoul, Mi Young Kim is an immigrant artist that already had a decorated career and history in Korea before moving to Canada.
Since the age of five, she was taught by her great master teacher Yun Hak Kim, an influential dancer and choreographer who established his own dance school in 1945.
He personally trained and produced countless professionals in Korea, and over his 30-year career, Yun Hak Kim became widely known across the country for his original repertoire, becoming a historically significant figure in shaping Korean cultural dance.
Other notable figures who taught her include Man Hyang Chu, Geum Ryun Sung, Ok Jin Kim, Sung Nam Yim and Wol Young Lee. These individuals are celebrated nationally for their works in their respective area; Ogomu, the five drum dance, Seoljanggo, the Gayageum, and ballet.
Mi Young Kim lunched a multi-cultural dance festival in 2003, The 1st Soo Ryu Dance Festival. Kim was presented with her pen name from poet Geum Shil Lee, which metaphor to spread Korean culture to all parts of the world like water, and after 2003, the Soo Ryu Dance Festival began and continued as currant.
Continue to promote traditional Korean dance and further develop her art, Mi Young Kim now concentrate on training new generations of dance artists and creating a dance style that is uniquely Korean Canadian. Kim also invited traditional Korean entertainment dance performers such as Jin-Mi Park, Mi-Sook Song, and Hyegyeong Lee, and collaborated with several artists from Canadian multicultural diversity: Menaka Thakkar, Lata Pada, Zab Maboungou, William Lau, Kozakura Sensui and Oikado Ichiro.
MASAN BRANCH OF THE KOREAN DANCE ASSOCIATION
The Masan branch of the Korea Dance Association has been a group that has laid the foundation for Korean dance for over 60 years since its establishment in 1962. It is a group that loves dance and is active as a city of art for the pioneers of Korean dance.
In 2025, they will introduce “Letter to Dance” with the content of the work “Wings Embracing the Sea of Changwon” and hope that the beautiful journey will be successful with passion for the exchange of Korean dance history with Canada.
LIGHT SOUND FRIENDS
LIGHT SOUND FRIENDS has provided education for people with disability to develop their artistic talents. The LSF has started the first performance in 2009 and has held the 11th performance in 2019. The LSF has been directing and producing various genres of dance performance by the disabled with numerous famous dancers in Korea. In 2016, the LSF has found KIADA (Korea International Accessible Dance Festival), which is the first international dance festival of people with disability. Also, LSF is making the world where people with disability can be respected their dignity and their right cultural right so that they enjoy their life happier.
HYANG OK KIM
Hyang Ok is a talented dancer who graduated from Pyongyang College of Music and Dance with a major in the Department of Dance, specializing in the Department of Creation. Having danced since a young age in North Korea, she pursued their passion for dance through rigorous academic training. Since 2013, they have been a dedicated member of the Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada, contributing their expertise and creativity to the dance group.
Kklily (Eun Ji Kim) is a Korean traditional percussionist and composer based in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of the National Gugak High School and Korea National University of Arts, she specializes in janggu, Pansori accompaniment, and the art of dancing with the kkwaenggwari (small gong). She has performed in musicals, orchestral concerts, and traditional Korean music productions in Korea and abroad, and has taken part in international collaborations such as the Soundweavings program at the Banff Centre and the Mushroom contemporary music project. Currently, she continues to actively perform and teach janggu in Canada, promoting Korean traditional culture.
Dorothy Leung is a kitchen and bath designer who holds a Bachelor of Design from OCADU. She began studying Chinese dance at the age of 9 in Hong Kong, and continued her passion of dance after moving to Canada at the age of 13. She graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 2000 and shared the beauty of Chinese dance through teaching and performing in many Canadian communities and festivals. After a decade of pause in dancing, she recently began to learn Korean dance, the Janggu, Sam GoMu & O-GoMu with The Korean Dance Studies Society of Canada for the past year.
ZAB MABOUNGOU
Born in Paris and raised in Congo-Brazzaville, Zab Maboungou discovered the power of dance at an early age. She later studied philosophy in France, a subject she taught, while also teaching dance, in Montréal, where she chose to settle. In 1987, she founded Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata-Nyata (1987), as well as a dance training program, the PEFAPDA (Programme d’Entraînement et de Formation Professionnelle en Danse, 2003) and developed LO.KE.TO, a method of rhythmic alignment.
As early as 1994, her experience and outlook on arts and culture made her an artistic advisor appointed by the Ivorian Minister of Culture to Masa (Marché des arts vivants de la scène d’Abidjan), a program promoting the performing arts, where she was honoured 15 years later as part of “Femme Danse” (2020).
Zab Maboungou is a sought after presence on stages, at festivals and for symposia on 4 continents. Her choreographies, noted for their power, unite the mental and physical spheres, and exude a spiritual strength revealed through a rhythm art equalled only by the mutual engagement of bodies, dance and music.
In January 2024, her company acquired a new venue for its artistic practice, the Centre Création Danse Nyata Nyata.
“Bodies have their own incommensurable life. To connect them is to add to the magic of the world.”
SUNNY SO
With over four decades of dance experience, Sunny So is a celebrated ballroom dancer in Canada. Trained in ballet at Sejong University in South Korea, his artistry blends classical precision with the dynamic flair of Latin and Standard ballroom. Representing Canada on the international stage, Sunny has earned multiple podium finishes at prestigious events, including the WDSF World Championships in Vienna and the Italian Open in Cervia. He is currently expanding his creative horizons by studying traditional Korean dance under Mi Young Kim.
ELLA SHI
Ella is a Jingju (Beijing Opera) and Kunqu theatre artist, and the founder of Echoes from China Traditional Arts Society in Toronto. She trained from a young age under distinguished Jingju artists Zhang Dongmei and Ding Yanyu, specializing in both literary and martial Dan roles. She has portrayed iconic characters including Lady Yang Yuhuan in Drunken Concubine, Lady Yu Ji in Farewell My Concubine, and Mu Guiying in Muke Fortress. In 2010, she was honoured with the prestigious Little Plum Blossom Award, recognizing her early talent in traditional Chinese theatre. She later studied Kunqu with renowned performing artist Zhang Yuwen, further expanding her versatility in roles such as Du Liniang in The Peony Pavilion, Wang Zhaojun in The Tale of the Green Mound: Zhaojun’s Departure, Fei Shi in The Iron Crown, and Se Kong in The Ocean of Sins.
Driven by a deep curiosity for world cultures and a belief in the shared language of the performing arts, Ella began studying Korean dance with Mi Young Kim in June 2025, exploring its grace and discipline as part of her cross-cultural artistic journey. This performance marks her debut in the art form.
MANUEL GARCIA
Originally from Mérida, Yucatán, Manuel García Cantón is making his return to the stage after years behind the camera. Former drummer for the local band Fónico, he also plays guitar and bass, and composes music as a personal passion. Now, he is expanding his creative range by exploring Korean percussion and composition, blending his roots with new rhythmic traditions.
LUIS MINUTTI
Luis has been playing string instruments from a young age. He attended the Leon Cultural Institute Music School in Leon, Mexico, where he focused on woodwind instruments. In Canada, Luis has continued his training in music theory, guitar, and piano at Etobicoke’s Music Studio and currently plays guitar with that school’s Jazz Ensemble, and has played along Mexican musician Seu Jorge Moran in various festivals in Ontario.