“One Dance” began with a staging of the two main dances of the Jongmyo ceremony: Munmu—the dance of the civil servants and Mumu—the dance of the military. Lined up in two long rows, the white-robed women dancers filled the black-draped capacious stage of the David H. Koch Theater carrying the ritual implements of the civil servants—a small bamboo flute in the left hand and a jeok (implement made of pheasant feathers) in the right. Outlined by spare, movable metal frames, the two rows of dancers split into four and with that, the stage was fully populated with grand optics produced by multiplied bodies and extensive fabric. Their measured, unison movements flowed with the pacing of a Tai Chi form occasionally punctuated with a forceful gesture.

The dance of the military servants followed, performed by men dancers in flowing orange robes and round, black-brimmed hats. Wielding long wooden swords, they danced a slow choreography of bows, pivots, and various arm motions while moving through a series of kaleidoscopic formations. At one point, as an electronic, metronome-like pulse became audible, the dancers formed a long diagonal that rotated from the central point of the stage like the hands of a clock. The program notes explained that the manipulation of formations was a new variation on the traditional dances to make them more theatricalized and interesting for current audiences.

Another traditional dance reimagined with stunning elegance and remarkable visuals was Chunaengmu or “Dance of the Spring Nightingale.” This court dance was composed in the early 19th century by a crown prince as a birthday commemoration to the queen and is traditionally performed by a solo dancer standing on a small woven mat decorated with floral designs. Redesigned with two initial female performers rising and sinking on their small mats, the stage soon filled with a multitude—all clad in emerald-green robes with long white sleeves. Standing on individual wine-colored mats laid out like giant playing cards, the dancers continued the rising and sinking motion as they manipulated their billowing sleeves holding hidden drumsticks to extend their reach. The dance movements accentuated the swish and flow of the ample fabric as they condensed and expanded their group formations. The visual display was further heightened as the colorful mats (attached to red wires) were lifted into the air to form a moving design in the vertical space above the dancers.