Rooted in Motion: When Dance Becomes Canvas

Every artist has a point of origin—a moment when body and spirit collide, giving rise to something ineffable. For me, dance has always been more than movement; it is a vessel of memory, myth, and material. My artistic practice lives at the intersection of choreography and visual art—where movement informs texture, and visual form is born through motion. In this space, breath becomes brushstroke, stillness speaks, and materials carry memory as deeply as the body does.

Through my work, I seek to dissolve the boundary between performance and installation, between myth and modernity. Each piece is a site of convergence—where tradition meets experimentation, and where ancient spirits continue to whisper through bodies and paper alike.

By MiYoung Margolis

| Director, Gallery B612

| Artistic Director, MiYoung Margolis Dance Collective

Seo-Nang: A Sacred Spirit Rooted in the Tree

Seo-Nang is a guardian spirit from Korean folk tradition—protector of villages, children, and unspoken wishes. She resides not in temples, but in trees—ancient ones wrapped with fluttering cloth, surrounded by stone mounds that mark sacred boundaries.

My piece Threads of Her: Seo-Nang brings her presence to the stage—not as a distant character from myth, but as a felt reality in the body. Through choreography, I shape her presence into breath, muscle, and memory—layering cultural inheritance with personal intuition. —not as a myth of the past, but as a living embodiment of womanhood, care, and quiet strength.

Through grounded movement, breath, and ritual gesture, I awaken her within the body. Her memory flows through the performers, weaving through generations of goddesses, mothers, and protectors.

A Seo-Nang-Dang shrine at the Korean Folk Village. Red, white, and blue prayer ribbons hang from a sacred tree—an ancient guardian believed to protect the village and its people. At its base, stacked stones mark the wishes of generations, while the wind carries whispered prayers. — **A Seo-Nang-Dang shrine at the Korean Folk Village.** Red, white, and blue prayer ribbons hang from a sacred tree—an ancient guardian believed to protect the village and its people. At its base, stacked stones mark the wishes of generations, while the wind carries whispered prayers.

The tale of Seo-Nang (서낭신)—a Korean guardian spirit—has long whispered to me. She is a presence often unseen, yet her shrine is tied with red threads, her space marked with stone piles at village borders. In this piece, I embody her. Not as a ghost of the past, but as a protector of womanhood, longing, and intuition. Through breath, rhythm, and ritual gesture, I weave her essence into the body. This performance is a homage to the women before me—goddesses, grandmothers, guardians—and how their threads still wrap around our hearts.

"She walks not alone—she walks with the past at her back, and the red thread trailing in her wake."

MiYoung Margolis Dance Collective, Dance Film 2021

Carving Myth Through Breath and Weight

My choreographic language is deeply influenced by the gravity-rooted modernism of Martha Graham. Her approach to movement—anchored in breath, weight, and intention—shaped the way I access emotional truth through the body. With its deep connection to gravity, floorwork, and emotional resonance, it became the language through which I could express both vulnerability and power.

When I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Dance from Korea National Sport University between 1998 and 2002, many of our professors had returned from training in the United States.

Martha Graham’s work was not just referenced—it was a global force. I remember being deeply drawn to its restrained strength, the contrast to ballet’s softness, and the dramatic shifts in energy that felt both disciplined and liberating. Personally, it was mesmerizing.

In "Seo-Nang," these movements merge with elements inspired by traditional Korean sword dance. The result is a contemporary ritual where softness meets structure—where mythology finds form through the body.

MiYoung Margolis Dance Collective, International Duo Festival in Korea, 2022

✧ Hanji Soul – The Dance of Breathing Paper

Hanji, the traditional Korean mulberry paper, is delicate yet enduring.

"It breathes. It stretches. It remembers."

In "Hanji Soul," the stage becomes an immersive hanji dreamscape. A visual back-projection features textures of my own hanji paintings, created with layers of fiber, resin, and memory. We will also incorporate lanterns crafted from hanji, which glow like living spirits.

The immersive, animated projection environment is designed by SUS Studios, who bring the paper's texture and presence into motion—blurring the line between surface and soul.

Each movement is an echo of the paper's resilience—soft, but unyielding.

This piece draws inspiration from Martha Graham’s gravity-rooted modernism but infuses it with the lightness and tension of East Asian aesthetics—particularly the breath-driven, circular qualities of Korean movement traditions.

“Hanji may appear fragile, but it shields from wind, cradles snow and absorbs the soul.”

O-Jak Bridge Art and Dance Festival 2024 I MiYoung Margolis Dance Collective

✦ Art Beyond the Stage – Where Movement and Material Meet

"Theads of Her: Seo-Nang" and "Hanji Soul" are not just performances—they are living extensions of my visual art practice.

In the lobby of the Seattle International Dance Festival, my hanji mixed media works will be exhibited alongside the performances. These artworks, made from hand-layered paper, fiber, and resin, echo the spirit of the stage.

You’ll see the soul of the material—not just in motion, but in stillness. And this is only the beginning. From June 7–8, the stage will carry these stories.

But from July 25–28, my visual works will return at the Seattle Art Fair 2025, at Booth F09 via Gallery B612. What breathes on stage will now be framed on the walls—still whispering, still alive.