Sung-Im Her

Sung-Im Her was born in Seoul and earned a master’s degree in contemporary dance at Hansung University. After working with Ji-Gu Dance Theatre for six years, she moved to Brussels to study at the P. A. R. T. S. school for contemporary dance. In 2006 and 2008 she worked with Jan Fabre’s ensemble Troubleyn in the solo piece Quando l’uomo principale è una donna and the group work Je suis sang. She joined the Belgian company les ballets C de la B in 2008 to collaborate on and perform in Ashes. In 2009 she first collaborated with Needcompany for This door is too small (for a bear) and has since worked as a dancer, choreographer and choreographic director in many productions for both Grace Ellen Barkey and Jan Lauwers: The House of Our Fathers, Marketplace 76, MUSH-ROOM, Odd? But True!, Just for Bolzano, All Tomorrow’s Parties, The Time Between Two Mistakes, Begin the Beguine and Probabilities of Independent Events. In 2011 she joined the theatre ensemble Abattoir Fermé and performed in Monkey, BUKO and Hotel Poseidon. She also choreographed NYMF, which received the Critics Award for Dance Piece of the Year 2015 in Korea.

With Philia, En-trance and Tuning, Sung-Im Her created her own works for the first time. In 2016, she moved to London and was selected for Testbeds Catalyst, a year-long programme for mid-career artists. Her solo piece You Are Okay! includes live illustrations by So Mang Lee and attracted co-production support in Belgium, Korea, UK and Germany. In 2018 she was commissioned by Counterpoint Arts to create the site-specific work Human Wall for Refugee Week at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She has since developed two new works, NUTCRUSHER and W.A.Y, both commissioned by the Arts Council Korea. In 2019 Sung-Im Her also served as choreographic director for Opéra de Lille’s production of Gérard Pesson’s Troi Contes. During the pandemic, she continues to partner with other artists, creating online and offline performances with international collaborators in Greece, Korea, Belgium and the UK.