Alien of Extraordinary -
Sun Kim Dance Theatre
Event Description
Alien of Extraordinary is a dance theatre piece born from the labyrinth of the U.S. artist visa system – a process that flattens human stories into forms and reduces lives to paperwork. Choreographed by Sun Kim, a South Korean immigrant who specializes in the street dance style of popping, the piece takes its name from the “alien of extraordinary ability” (O-1) visa and her own experiences with it. Performed by a cast of eight dancers, Alien of Extraordinary features theme music by klezmer musician and composer Michael Winograd. The piece is an invitation to witness the immigrant artist’s journey in all its fragility and resilience, creating a meeting ground for empathy, imagination, and shared belonging.
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There will be a post-performance Q&A with Sun Kim and J. Brian Cho, an attorney who specializes in the O-1 Visa process, moderated by LPAC Artistic Director Handan Ozbilgin.
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Alien of Extraordinary is created with the support of a Works & Process Residency at Modern Accord Depot (NY).
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Sun Kim Dance Theatre’s residency at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), which receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the SHS Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER
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Sun Kim is a distinguished dancer, choreographer, artistic director, and educator from South Korea. Specializing in Popping—a street dance style where she finds strength and freedom to speak her truth—she is the recipient of the 2025 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Choreography, the 2022 Emerging Artist Award at Harlem Stage Gala,
and was nominated for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer at the 2022 Bessie Awards. She currently performs at Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Broadway as a prologue dancer.
Her passion began at age 12 with Breaking and Popping, and after a decade of training, she moved to NYC in 2011. Since then, she has won the Step Ya Game Up world final Popping battle, reached the Top 8 at the UK B-Boy Championship world final as the USA Popping representative, and performed with Cirque du Soleil. She has also taught at Princeton University, Broadway Dance Center, Peridance Center, and Kookmin University in Seoul.
Beyond her comfort zone, Sun has worked commercially with Madonna, Elton John, Phish, Nike, McDonald’s, Golden Goose, and Gap, while also presenting original works at Burning Man at Sotheby’s, Harlem Stage, Breakin’ Convention, Jacob’s Pillow, New Victory Theater, and Mark Morris.
Her breadth of experience led to the founding of Sun Kim Dance Theatre (SKDT), and has performed at Works & Process, Battery Dance Festival, New Victory Theater, Bronx Museum, San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Festival, Ladies of Hip Hop Festival, NYU Skirball, and Symphony Space.
Event Date:
Sunday, November 9th
at 5pm
Location:
Little Theater
