“I passionately believe by practicing art we can commune with spirits to express and share our thoughts and ideas on vital issues such as identity, politics, nature and spirituality.” Dohee Lee
Born on Jeju Island in South Korea, where shamanic tradition is very strong, Dohee Lee learned Korean dance, Korean drumming and percussion, and vocals in the tradition of Kyunggido. Now her art focuses on fusing these traditional forms with contemporary elements. Each piece and performance blends Eastern and modern Western musical forms and contemporary dance languages into pieces that emphasize the ritualistic and healing aspects of music and dance.
“Among the most stunning was Dohee Lee. Lee moved dramatically across the stage, applying the gestures of ancient Korean dance to the jazz rhythms of the moment. Lee unfurled an extraordinary lexicon of vocal colors, tones and textures. Yet she deftly controlled these otherworldly sounds, invoking them to dovetail not only with Chan’s saxophone exhortations but with her sinuous, thoroughly personalized one-woman choreography, self-styled art form. Jazz never has looked—or sounded —like this before.”
(Chicago Tribune, Oct 29th 2004 )
A 2008-2009 Isadora Duncan Dance Award double nominee, dancer/musician and vocalist Dohee Lee is the founder of the groundbreaking PURI Project. Born out of her desire to explore new art forms, in 2004 she founded the group, an innovative project in which the goal was to present a fusion of dance, music, spoken word, visual art, and audience participation within the context of their performances.
Since her arrival in the US, she has been a vital contributor to both the traditional and contemporary Asian American Cultural Arts landscape of the Bay Area as well as the most “avant-garde” expressions of this area and where ever she go.
Lee’s many accomplishments include being the resident artist and instructor of the Korean youth cultural center, a community –based organization focused on Korean Arts. She has performed at the Asian American Dance Performance and the Asian American Jazz Festival in San-Francisco and Chicago.
Since 2001, she has collaborated with Sue Li Jue’s Facing East Dance and Music, Shinichi Iova Koga’s Inkboat, Jazz musicians Francis Wong, Jeff Chan, Jon Jang, Chicago bassist Tatsu Aoki Lawrence Ochs and Scott Amendala; contemporary musicians such as cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, Okkyung Lee, Theresa Wong,. In May 2009, she performed with Anna Halprin’s project “Spirits of Place” in Stern Grove.
New work from Lee includes collaborations with Nanos Operetta, the Kronos Quartet, Yanis Adoniou’s Kunst-Stoff a contemporary Modern company; and Choreographer/dancer legend Anna Halprin.
