Political and personal: During the 2022/23 season, Olivia Hyunsin Kim is the State Opera’s composer in residence. In her work as a choreographer, performer and curator, she sounds out the cultural institution, the city of Hanover and its people. She is no classical composer: What Kim brings together are people, stories, bodies. In March, she will introduce herself and her work to the audience: in conversations, music, dance karaoke and her performance Yellow Banana, which questions clichés in an equally radical and playful manner. Her invitation to EN(coun)TER is to be taken quite literally: Enter – come in! Encounter – the encounter begins!

Queering the Ballhof
An interactive guided tour on the history of Ballhof

Ballhof has always been a place of entertainment, if not always a theatre. It was no accident that the Nazis co-opted the place in the 1930s, because Ballhof had previously been a (secret) meeting place of the queer community – long before we started calling it that. High time, therefore, to revive this special history in a special encounter: a search for traces around Ballhofplatz! In cooperation with Prisma Queer Migrants e.V. Meeting point: Main entrance of Ballhof Zwei.

EN(coun)TER
Composer in Residence Olivia Hyunsin Kim introduces herself

As a choreographer, performer and curator, Olivia Hyunsin Kim questions stereotypes; as composer in residence, she looks at the traditional institution of the State Opera – and she enters into an exchange with the people who animate both the opera and the urban space. At the outset of EN(coun)TER, she introduces the central issues of her work – unusual, exciting and intelligent.

Followed by dance karaoke with Olivia Hyunsin Kim – like karaoke, only with dancing and twice the fun!

Drinks & Thoughts
This warm-up event to accompany the stage programme includes unusual musical contributions, food for thought and an opportunity to start an early conversation while having a drink or two.

EN(coun)TER
Olivia Hyunsin Kim encounters State Opera staff

One central aspect of Olivia Hyunsin Kim’s work is to bring people together who might not otherwise meet and to grant participation to those who usually stay in the background. That is why she invites long-term employees of the State Opera to join her for a conversation on the second night of EN(coun)TER. As a temporary and new member of the State Opera, she takes a look back with her older colleagues: What does their work mean to them? How is culture changing? And what can a look into the future reveal to us?

Followed by music by NOLPLUS, one of the most renowned groups of traditional music in Korea.

Yellow Banana
Performance by Olivia Hyunsin Kim

In Yellow Banana, Olivia Hyunsin Kim, performer, choreographer and composer in residence at State Opera Hanover questions the fact that Eurasia is divided into Europe and Asia. She places her own body at the centre of reflection, fearlessly invoking stereotypes. Her production is radical, provoking, relevant, and it ends in a joyous celebration of Eurasia – in cooperation with her creative team “Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim” and NOLPLUS, one of the most renowned groups of traditional music in Korea.
This production features nudity.

Followed by dance karaoke with Olivia Hyunsin Kim – like karaoke, only with dancing and twice the fun!

Funded as part of the programme 360° – Fund for New City Cultures