Strong Voices

Lachlan Oakes and Joel Forman are dance teachers with Ōtautahi-based inclusive dance company Jolt Dance. In November last year they travelled to Korea for a residency with Korean inclusive dance company ‘Light Sound Friends’. Here is their travel diary.

Day 1 – Getting there

We got to Christchurch airport to meet Lyn Cotton (Jolt Artistic Director) and Rachel Tully (Jolt General Manager) who were travelling with us. The flight took 20 hours from start to finish including waiting around. We flew to Seoul via China. We had a long wait in China, and it was cold.

We arrived in Seoul in the early afternoon, we felt pretty chill. It was a nice day and mild. The first thing we did was get to our accommodation by taxi; we dropped our bags there and got settled in. We were in the same room. We actually went out and tried to find something to have for dinner.

Lachlan: First thing I ate was a bibimbap. It was similar to dumplings – a traditional South Korean dish. I thought it was alright, a little bit weird. I didn’t want another one.

Joel: I ate fish eggs, it was weird. I didn’t want to have it again, but I did try it.

Lachlan: Seoul was amazing, really busy. It felt like the biggest city in the world. Incredible in terms of its size.

Joel: There were lots of things on, like the markets. The bullet train was very busy, in and out. In the hotel the beds were different. The TV was in the bedroom. The showers were very different as well. We had to hold the showerhead with one hand and wash ourselves with the other hand. It was quite an odd way. We had to stand by the sink side-on and use the showerhead to wash our hair. It was tricky but we got used to it.

Day 2 – Residency

We started teaching the very next day. We taught Jolt activities. We also got the dancers used to the ‘Jolt way’ of dancing – the way we teach and the way we dance. It’s different from what they do because they wear traditional costumes when they perform. They dance with fans. We got to learn from them too. We learnt one section of the fan dance, and we got to see them perform a couple of times.

Lachlan: I thought it was quite spectacular.

Joel: We taught them about musicality, and we showed them how we dance as individuals.

The most important thing we taught them was about Jolt’s vision – empowering the voices of dancers with intellectual disabilities.

Day 3

We went to the Jogyesa Temple. There were different shapes and pathways. People can go there to pray as well as rest on a cushion. We got a cushion and sat down and relaxed for a wee bit. You can also go and light a candle and look at the Buddhas. They were amazing.

Later, while we were waiting at the subway, an announcing tune came on and we did a little dance to it.

We also spent our per diems.

Lachlan: I bought Rachel an ice cream.

Days 4,5 and 6

We spent five days with Light Sound Friends. We did our Creative Spirit Workshops teaching them how to build on their strengths as dancers. We taught them to dance more using the whole space. How to stand up and be confident. We learnt to sign and use movement for them as they didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Korean.

Over the last few days, we worked on our performance The Showing which was held on the Saturday.

Day 7 – The Showing

The Showing was a performance at the Light Sound Friends studio.

This year it was all about us being in a dance with them. We were dancing together as a celebration at the end of our residency. The audience was mostly family members, and Directors Choi and Rika from Light Sound Friends were also there. There were a couple of family members that came up and said ‘well done’ in Korean.

At the end of the celebration, we felt pretty stoked. We went out to dinner with the family of one of the dancers, Eunsuong (but he likes to be called Sonny).

Lachlan: We went to an Italian pizza place and I had a really nice Margherita pizza and some pasta as well. I was hungry from all the hard work.

Joel: I had pizza, chips and a beer.

Day 8 – Exploring Seoul

The next day after The Showing, we were tourists. We went exploring in Insadong – a boutique hub with lots of different shops. We bought some souvenirs.

Lachlan: I bought a bag for Mum.

Joel: I bought a hat and t-shirt for me and a South Korean hat for my brother Jacob.

Lachlan: We also went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and explored around there. I bought myself a pen.

Joel: I liked the palace and some people were praying, I loved that. I loved the culture.

We then took a train to Busan.

Lachlan: Getting to the train station was stressful. I ended up spilling my drink bottle and I had to get my suitcase out and dropped it on my toe. I was very frazzled. We almost missed our train. The train was fast. We wanted lunch on the train but there was no food, so we ate from the vending machine.

Our favourite things

Lachlan: My favourite part of the whole experience was hanging out and feeling at home in the studio with all the dancers. They were all amazing people to work alongside. All our Korean friends’ personalities and musicality was next level. The language barrier wasn’t too bad – I learned how to say hello and thank you in Korean.

Joel: I loved dancing with Light Sound Friends and learning the culture and encouraging them to press themselves. I liked going out to buy lunch and then walking back to the studio to start teaching. I loved the culture and how different it was.

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Image 1: Joel (left) and Lachlan (rear centre) working with Light Sound Friends dancers.

Image 2: Joel (centre) and Lachlan (right) demonstrating the ‘Jolt way’ to Jonghyeon from Light Sound Friends.

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Jolt Dance is currently fundraising for its next residency in May where 5 dance teachers with intellectual disabilities will teach dance workshops in schools and community organisations across the Cook Islands. You can donate here