Ahn Eun-Me

Ahn Eun-Me, Eun-Me Ahn "AEM" (born 15 June 1964) is a Korean contemporary artist, dancer, choreographer, educator actress, and theatrical creator.
As a choreographer, she is known for delivering non-cliché dance movements which subtly embed Asian dance linguistics fused with elliptical movements.
As a theatrics creator, she is known for eccentric gaudy aesthetics composed of beguiling and Kitsch visuals. She is also known for apathy towards heavy connotations and overly theoretical choreographs.
As a contemporary artist, majority of her works are of archiving materials. She held her first major solo exhibition as a visual contemporary artist in 2019 at Seoul Metropolitan Museum of Art, which gathered 90,000 visitors in 3 months. She is known for collaborating with other artists to create a final piece. She was the only Korean artist who was invited to MMCA to exhibit one’s work in a major space with only one solo exhibition prior to MMCA invitation.
As an actress or as a media celebrity, she is known as a “crazy woman” due to her fashion style, which she creates with her tailor from left over materials from theatrical stage designs, near-shaven hair style, and her straight-forward opinions on all matters.
As an educator, she is best known for her robust involvement in non-profit educations provided for anyone who comes to learn from her. It is said that she does not actually teach anything. But helps the pupils to realize or find the answers on their own.
== Early life ==
She was born in Yeong-ju, southern province of South Korea. Although her family was not of wealthy in nature, Her talent as a dancer was blatantly noticeable, which made possible for her to attend Ehwa Women’s University on full scholarship. The university was the first institute in Korea to offer higher education in the arts of dance.
== Adulthood ==
After graduating Ehwa University, she worked on several national projects including 1988 Seoul Olympics. She was a rehearsal director of the mass game and she was one of the youngest officials who was invited to the event.
== New york ==
In the early 90s, she went to New York to attend postgraduate at Tisch School of the Art.
As a postgraduate from an early era of Tisch School of the Art, she was well versed in the bodily language and producing of theatrics.
This was when she became a dear friend of Pina Bausch. The delicate lines of Pina Bausch, which extends beyond elegance, contrasted handsomely with the ones of AEM. Although this would not bother AEM, realizing the difference, and knowing that the conventional contemporary dance movement was largely dependent on such characteristics of dancers, AEM was able to search for new linguistics of dance which was fit for her own. 
She stayed in the U.S. until the end of 20th century, dancing as a member of Martha Clarke Dance Company. After receiving due recognitions with the awards from Manhattan Foundation for the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts, she was offered a directorship at Daegu Municipal Dance Company at the end of year 2000. Making a long-awaited return home.
== Return to korea ==
In several interviews, she claims that the years in the U.S., and receiving recognition she longed for, made her realize that the world was made for not the winners, but for each of its own person. 
During the time when she was the director of Daegu Metropolitan City Dance Company, she revolutionized several repertoire programs.
Among them are “All-new Tale of Chunhyang”. The original folk tale, which is about a beautiful concubine who proudly guards her chastity for the imperial official who promised her his undying love, has been completely re-iterated in AEM’s own language. Her dance repertoire refuses to conform to the past values leading the society to oppressions and innate hierarchy. Chunhyang in her repertoire does not care for her chastity. She is portrayed as a rather expressively vulgar character. The imperial official has passionate homosexual relationship with the provincial governor who, in the original tale, is an evil dictator who wishes to spend a night with Chunhyang.
This was very provocative attempt, considering Daegu is a region notorious for its extreme conservatively. Her creativity continues with the Dance Company for 3 more years until she resigns from the directorship in 2004.
== Global fame ==
During the time, she also choreographed for the opening ceremony of World Cup 2002 and the closing ceremony of Daegu Summer Universiade 2003, making her the only person in Korea who had been appointed a directing position in all three major world sports events of a nation. Her creations traveled around the world. Often being invited to major dance companies such as Wuppertal. The repertoires made during this period brought her international fame. Her repertoires were praised for not providing cliché orientalism which the west world was used to expecting from Asian creators.
In 2009, she was awarded The Nam June Paik Art Center Prize for the global achievement and distinctions. It was an extra ordinary event because the prize was never before given to a female dancer/choreographer. She created a performance piece in homage to Nam June Paik. The performance involved destruction of 12 pianos which were lifted up in the air with high construction cranes. This was one of the most controversial pieces among her choreographies. The outcome of the performance, the shards, are collected by the art centre and Ahn Eun Me. The collection was not shown to public until 2019, appearing at her first solo exhibition at a museum.
== Recent decade ==
As her career expanded into the second decade of second millenium, her work became more focused on the bodily movements of neglected minorities who are conceived by society to have less capabilities. The most praised among her programmes is “Dancing Grandmothers”. Most western dance genres rely heavily on the youth of dancers. In this programme, she has formed a team almost purely consisted of silver age ladies. This programme insinuate the idea that dance moves of now will be the ancestors’ dance moves in the future.
This repertoire, which was internationally premiered in France in 2011, was praised by 4 major papers of Paris.
Her programs created after this often involve participations of audiences. This makes her choreography unique in a sense that it resembles a concert and art exhibition at the same time.
== Awards ==
Year	Title 	Entity 	Country
2019	68th Seoul Culture Awards : Dance 	Seoul City Government 	South Korea
2019	2019 Gender Equality Awards : Cultural Person 	Women and Culture in Network 	South Korea
2019	38th Sejong Culture Awards : Art 	Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 	South Korea
2019	2019 International Theater Institute Special Award 	International Theater Institute 	South Korea
2019	24th Dance Art Award : Daeshim Dance 	ChangMu Arts Center 	South Korea
2016	Prix Culturel France-Corée 2015 	Le Comité du Prix Culturel France-Corée 	France
2015	The 8th Best Artists of Year Award 	Performing Arts Management Association of Korea 	South Korea
2014	2014 Best Artist’s Mother Award 	Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 	South Korea
2011	3rd Seoul Culture Today Best Artist Award 	Seoul Culture Today 	South Korea
2009	1st Nam June Paik Art Center Prize 	Nam June Paik Art Center 	South Korea
2009	Dance Vision Prize : Isadora Dace Art Prize 	The Modern Dance Promotion of Korea 	South Korea
2005	Isadora Awards 	Organizing Committee of Korean Modern Dance Museum 	South Korea
2004	100 people to lead the future of Korea 	Hankyoreh Daily News Paper 	South Korea
1999	Manhattan Community Arts Fund 	Lower Manhattan Cultural Council 	USA
1999	Fund for Creative Communities 	New York City Department of Cultural Affairs 	USA
1998	NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows : Choreography 	New York Foundation for the Arts 	USA
1991	1st MBC Excellent Choreographer Award : Stolen Dream 	MBC 	South Korea
1990	12th Seoul Dance Festival Best Dancer Award : Meeting 	Korea Dance Association 	South Korea
1988	Seoul Arts High School Dance Competition Teaching Award : Bird 	Seoul Arts High School 	South Korea
1986	3rd New Generational Dance Performance Outstanding New Artist Award : Se-aal 	Korean Modern Dance Association 	South Korea
1985	3rd National University Students Dance Competition President Award of the Korean Culture and Art Foundation : A Letter from Desert	The Federation of Artistic and Culture Organizations of Korea Chungbuk Branch	South Korea
== Film works ==
Year	Title 	Role 	Director
2005	Daespo Naughty Girl	Choreographer and Actor	Je-Yong Lee
2002	H 	Choreographer 	Jong-hyuk Lee
2001	Wonderful Days 	Choreographer 	Moon Saeng Kim
2000	La Belle 	Body Director 	Kyun-dong Yeo
1999	Interview 	Choreographer 	Hyeok Byeon
1998	Cut Runs Deep 	Choreographer 	Jae-han Lee
1995	The Hair Dresser 	Choreographer 	Jin-su Choi
1993	Dead End 	Choreographer 	Sung Soo Kim
==In the media==
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== References ==
==External links==
* Eun-Me Ahn - Gadja Productions
* Eun-Me Ahn - Ahnsim Dance - Gadja Productions
* Ahn Eun-me is the future - The Korea Times
* Eun-Me Ahn, the S. Korean choreographer ... - France 24
* Eun-Me Ahn | Pina Bausch Fellowship for Dance
* Eun-Me Ahn review – eye-scorchingly colourful dance goes K-pop
* Ahn Eun-me creates anew traditional dance from North Korea
* The Korean grandmothers of choreographer Eun-Me Ahn
* Ahn Eun-me turns museum space into dance stage
* Eun-Me Ahn, Dancing Grandmothers | The Paris Autumn
* Choreographer Ahn Eun-me to stage cross-border NK dance
Category:1964 births
Category:South Korean contemporary artists
Category:South Korean dancers
Category:Korean choreographers
Category:Korean educators
Category:Korean artists
Category:Ewha Womans University alumni
Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni