Olivia Hyunsin Kim (올리비아 Hyunsin 金), formerly known as Hyunsin Liv Kim, is an artist based in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main and Seoul. She has been awarded the first place of the art prize “Amadeu Antonio Preis” 2019.

She comes from a non-traditional dance background and started her self-taught Lambada education at age 4 with some vocal lessons from Bonnie Tyler’s “It’s a heartache”. She presented her skills in the city center of Siegen, a small no-to-spectacle-university-town in Germany. Then she learned some acting tricks from Korean soap operas circulating within the Korean-German diaspora. After her forced relocation to South Korea, she tried her performing skills in several Speech Competitions. Her most successful gig was being dressed up as a radio, singing “Imagine” from John Lennon and well, talking about world peace.

After some Korean soap drama with real tears about her dream to become an actress, she went to finish her BA in Literature with a focus in International Relations at Seoul National University and graduated with distinction. While studying, she performed in the Queer Performance Scene, especially in Itaewon, Seoul, before its full on gentrification.

She studied Hula, Hawai’ian Dance, and Theatre at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and then went on to study contemporary dance at Tanzfabrik Berlin and Falmouth University (Dartington College of Arts). She finished the Master in Choreography and Performance(CuP) under Professor Dr. Bojana Kunst at the Institute of Applied Theatre Studies Gießen and Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts(HfMDK)  summa cum laude. She has been a scholarship recipient of several institutions such as DAAD, Seoul National University and danceweb at Impulstanz Vienna 2017.

After some drama, she decided to become a choreographer and since then works worldwide. Through her art work she usually “choreographs situations” in which the audience becomes also part of the whole thing happening on stage. Her approach involves an  intersectional, queer feminist and post-colonial view. The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) spirit is always at the core of her work. Her works range from dance to film and installation and are usually interdisciplinary.

From 2016 till 2018 she performed in her own band “The Kill Joys” and played concert performances with Magda Drozd, a guitar,  a synthesizer and a drum machine.

Since 2018 she is curating the performance festival “EXPO: A Showcase of Wahlberliner” together with Daniel Brunet and Shlomo Lieberman at the English Theater Berlin|International Performing Arts Center.

Her works have been shown at Sophiensaele (Berlin), Art Sonje Center (Seoul), Uferstudios (Berlin), Maxim Gorki Theater (Berlin), Mousonturm (Frankfurt), Museo Universitario del Chopo(Mexico City), Yeulmaru (Yeosu), Performance Center (Falmouth) and many more. She has been participating at festivals such as Tanznacht 2012, Ausufern/Tanz im August 2013, Yeosu International Art Festival 2014, Tanztage Berlin 2016, Aua Wir Leben Festival 2017, Zürcher Theaterspektakel 2017, Tanzfestival Rhein-Main 2017, Impulstanz Vestibül 2017 among others.

◀But wait……What’s ddanddara?

“ddanddara(딴따라)” is a Korean word for artists or entertainers. People say this word has been derived from the sound of a trumpet (try it and speak it out loud). The origin though is not that clear. It depicts artists as “non-serious beings” not only in a positive way.

I want to find the potential inside of it: I want to have fun, fun with myself, fun with you, fun with them and fun with us. A moment of freedom in a freaking world! ddanddarakim is a lose network of interdisciplinary artists I know, admire and work with. Together we create art works.

☞ https://vimeo.com/hlkim

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☞ https://www.facebook.com/OHKddanddarakim/