Meet Soomi Kim | Theatre artist, performer, teacher & choreographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Soomi Kim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Soomi, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I am a theatre artist and former gymnastics coach in NYC. I have a background in dance, gymnastics, martial arts and devised movement. In short, I love movement and have created several theatre shows that have toured and been presented in NYC. As a competitive coach, I also choreographed floor exercise routines for almost 2 decades. In 2018 when the shocking news broke out in the gymnastics world that gymnastics/sports physician Larry Nassar was convicted of widespread sexual abuse of minor gymnasts, it rocked the gymnastics community and a cultural shift followed.

During the pandemic, I reevaluated my work as a coach in the midst of flowing allegations of emotional abuse. Coaches were being called out and it all coincided with the #metoo, #cancelculture and #callout culture movements. I was skeptical of the system and decided it was a time for a change. That summer of 2020, I devised my exit strategy from coaching to create my own business as a freelance floor choreographer, but not only as an off shoot of what I was already doing, but to use my vast experience as a theatre maker and artist to create a weekly dance class for gymnasts I called the “Creative Dance Workshop.” These classes were the first of it’s kind; the gymnasts are in a quiet studio space where they learn meditation and how to create and generate their own movement through voice exercises, theatre and choreography games and prompts. This class was a transformative experience for the students and myself, it emppwered them with the confidence to use their bodies in a way that became authentic to their identity and it was the counterpart to the regimented and rigidity of gymnastics, which often produces “obedient” gymnasts who don’t yet understand how to navigate their feelings. It is therapeutic and I learned a tremendous amount from this teaching experience. The girls always blew me away as I watched layers of self consciousness peel away before my eyes.

I also began a blog that celebrates accomplishments and shined a light on the journey of a gymnast’s floor routine making process. It included a nutrition segment and some interviews with decorated floor choreographers. I enjoy the collaborative process of creating routines that showcased the gymnasts’ individual personality. As a floor choreographer, within a year, I choreographed nearly 100 routines at 14 different gyms. I became an LLC and named my business GymKim Choreo.

I am currently making a dance theatre play about the gymnastics culture, weaving my own narrative as a coach and feature 6 competitive gymnasts that I have either coached or taught. We had several workshop showings and this August 3rd-6th will be unveiling this new full length work to the NYC public. The piece is called “Body Through Which the Dream Flows” and it will be a piece unlike any other seen in the theater world.

The show will be available to watch on demand after August 6th through the end of August.

Here are my websites:

Performance:
https://www.soomikim.com

GymKim Choreo:
https://www.gymkimchoreo.com

Body Through Which the Dream Flows page on the New Ohio Theatre website:

BODY THROUGH WHICH THE DREAM FLOWS

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started out as an actor. I was running the rat race of auditions, gigs, network while working in the service industry. As an Asian American, I was disenchanted with the roles that were out there and had this dissatisfied feeling. I began to create and spear head my own projects and created my own space in the arts world, since I felt I didn’t fit in anywhere. This journey was hard, exciting, challenging, inspiring, humbling. That cycle would repeat itself in every production. But slowly I began to learn more and I was exposed to a whole new world of how performance can effect and even change the world. The scope of art making and performance expanded. This experience and widened perspective gave me the confidence that I could not only create my own business, but that I could take part in a micro way to create change. I have given presentations, lectures, performances, round table conversations surrounding the subject matters of my projects and was invigorated by watching others around me really impacting their communities and creating social change; I love the fusion of arts and social justice. Or just making work that cracks open your perspective by either walking in another person’s shoes or pondering the big questions of human behavior and life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
*Some of these places don’t exist anymore

NYC:

We would have brunch at Freeman’s Alley. A great restaurant tucked into an alley in SOHO.
Great trout and champagne!

Take a walk around the west village and stop into the old classic bar for a beer at the White Horse tavern, where Dylan Thomas infamously hung out.

Later we would listen to some of the best jazz musicians in the world at a dive bar called 55 bar.

Maybe go for a drink on the Frying Pan, a boat on the Hudson river. Gorgeous view and good vibes!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All of my artistic collaborators and mentors:

Suzi Takahashi- theater collaborator
Kristin Marting-mentor
Alexandra Beller-choreography mentor
Laura Peterson- colleague & friend
Zeke Stewart-dance theatre collaborator
Adam Rogers- composer/collaborator

Influential artists, dance and theater companies:

Pina Bausch-dance theatre pioneer/choreographer
James Thierree- dance theatre artist
DV8 Physical Theatre- dance theatre company
Crytal Pite- choreographer
Frantic Assembly-theater company
William Forsythe- choreographer, director

Website: www.soomikim.com/www.gymkimchoreo.com

Instagram: @soomdawg & @gymkimchoreo

Linkedin: Soomi Kim and GymKim Choreo

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gymkimchoreo

Image Credits
John Keon Peter Yesley Riley Dunbar Leyna Papach Deborah Lopez