Born in 1943 in the province of Gangwon-do, Kim Mae-ja was initiated in traditional Korean dance at the Women’s University of Ewha, where she would hold a chair from 1970 to 1991. She created the ChangMu dance company in 1976 and caused a sensation by showing bare feet, a first in Korea, and is today in the avant-garde of the globalisation of dance with her highly-creative choreographies. After opening the Changmuchumteo in 1985, in 1992 she founded the Changmu artistic institute, a uniquely multi-faceted centre in Korea, as it offers a specific choreographic space approved by the artistic and cultural committee, publishes "the Momm" (the body) Monthly Review, manages the ChangMu dance company and programmes shows throughout the season.

Become the flag-bearer for creative Korean choreography after seeking to revive traditional dance while being inquisitive, Kim Mae-ja systematises the traditional foundations of the discipline with an eye to their progressive globalisation. Her choreographies elicit praise through the experimental dimension that they bring to Korean dance in order to adapt it to new realities, while never ceasing to reference tradition. Capable of representing the most banal situation through corporal expression and more than ever aware of the universal potential of the Korean aesthetic, she has taken the role of innovator by orienting her creation internationally, also ensuring the promotion of national choreography abroad through conferences and by establishing a university programme in the area: actions that have broadly contributed to greater awareness of the specific identity of Korea around the world.   

Source : CCN Roubaix