Artlab J founder Joori Jung loves the way Detroit embraces her passion for dance

Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
Updated ·3 min read
Lyle Lee, 7, of Troy, left, Ivan Yoo, 5, of Bloomfield Hills, and Elsie Mack, 6, of Detroit, run around and play before the Artlab J student performances begin at the Palmer Park art fair in Detroit on June 4, 2023.
Lyle Lee, 7, of Troy, left, Ivan Yoo, 5, of Bloomfield Hills, and Elsie Mack, 6, of Detroit, run around and play before the Artlab J student performances begin at the Palmer Park art fair in Detroit on June 4, 2023.

The air was electric in the Marygrove Theatre on a summer night in Detroit. Four-year-old ballerinas, angsty teenage contemporaries and eager instructors buzzed around backstage as Joori Jung, founder of ArtLab J, directed dress rehearsal.

After 10 years of cultivating a community of dance in Detroit, Jung said all her memories of ArtLab J, came flooding back at the season-ending dance recital. “Through this experience, I (kept) thinking, 'Through dance, how can I help; how can I make things better?' ” said Jung, who has met so many artists, families and people who she says have changed her. “Dance is about touching the human body to the human body.”

Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, gives students high-fives during the Creative Thinkers and Movers performance during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, gives students high-fives during the Creative Thinkers and Movers performance during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Students and instructors watch from backstage as other students perform on stage during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove College in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Students and instructors watch from backstage as other students perform on stage during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove College in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Lyle Lee, 7, of Troy, smiles while he breakdances on stage during his performance with the Artlab J Tumbling class, while Cadence Warren, 6, of Detroit; Zuri Mose-Telesford, 5, of Detroit, and Ruby Schug, 7, of Detroit, look on at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023. Joori Jung, Lee's mother and founder of Artlab J, says when Lee was born with two club feet she had to adapt to his needs and expectations, which led her to create classes like tumbling at Artlab J.

Jung, 40, of Troy, is a dancer, choreographer and the founder of ArtLab J, a nonprofit that aims to expand contemporary dance and the arts community in Detroit. Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Jung has a passion for dance that spans continents and cultures.

Jung began her dance education at Kyung Hee University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree  in 2006, and a master's degree in dance in 2008. She performed internationally with the Seoul Dance Theatre, and danced with renowned Korean choreographers such as Eun Mi Ahn and Sujeong Kim.

Her mother had encouraged Jung to chase her dreams abroad, and in 2009, she moved to New York City to pursue her career as a dancer and choreographer, joining Time Lapse Dance and Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre and presenting her own work at various venues and festivals in New York.

It didn’t all come together for Jung until she moved to Detroit in 2012, and, with the help of now-husband Aiden Lee, saw how her unique talents fit in the city that embraced her creativity. Together, they established ArtLab J as a platform for local and international artists to collaborate, create and showcase their work. “When I started the company with my husband, I wanted to create a space for artists to collaborate, a laboratory to create art of all kinds including music and art exhibits,” says Jung, who credits her husband and his support for ArtLab J’s success.

Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, walks students from Palmer Park Preparatory Academy to the after-school program at Artlab J, a few blocks away, in Detroit on June 7, 2023. Jung sees education and community as big parts of Artlab J's programming after she had her two children, Lyle, 7, and Sia Lee, 4, who also go to Palmer Park Prep.
Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, walks students from Palmer Park Preparatory Academy to the after-school program at Artlab J, a few blocks away, in Detroit on June 7, 2023. Jung sees education and community as big parts of Artlab J's programming after she had her two children, Lyle, 7, and Sia Lee, 4, who also go to Palmer Park Prep.
Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, helps her daughter Sia Lee, 4, put on her shoes, while Jung picks up students from her children's school for the Artlab J after-care program at Palmer Preparatory Academy in Detroit on June 7, 2023.
Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, helps her daughter Sia Lee, 4, put on her shoes, while Jung picks up students from her children's school for the Artlab J after-care program at Palmer Preparatory Academy in Detroit on June 7, 2023.

Through ArtLab J, Jung also produces and directs the annual Detroit Dance City Festival, which features performances, workshops, master classes, film screenings and networking events for dancers and dance lovers. The festival won the 2014 Knight Arts Challenge, receiving a grant to support its growth and impact.

“Detroit really is like my turning point, and taught me so much about being a human,” Jung says. Through the experience of running a business, connecting with families, and maintaining her creative expression, Jung says, "I feel I am getting better every day.”

Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, meets with the Creative Thinkers and Movers class, led by art instructor Seline Lim, 38, of Bloomfield Hills, bottom left, during a wrap-up session where kids talk about their favorite projects from the class at Artlab J in Detroit on June 7, 2023. Jung says she thinks of her dance studio as a laboratory where she, her husband and other collaborators think of unique and interesting ways to teach children about life, not just dance performance.

After COVID-19, Jung faced blatant racism. She received threatening calls, and hackers even harassed her during a Zoom class, using racial slurs and accusing her of spreading the coronavirus. Agitators came to her dance studio on the Livernois Avenue of Fashion four times.

“I was very depressed and scared ... but I realized that I can't run away from this with these two kids. This is the place they are going to live, I need to do something,” says Jung. She tackled her fears, and created a Stop Asian Hate PSA with film director Na Frenette in collaboration with Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC).

This was not the first crisis Jung had faced. Her son Lyle, born with two club feet, and wore two full leg casts until he was 3 years old. At a birthday party, 3-year-old Lyle wanted to dance with the other children, and surprised everyone when he began to breakdance while wearing his two leg casts.

Jarod Rodwan, 7, of Detroit performs with his Creative Thinkers and Movers dance class, while he looks to Joori Jung for direction during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Jarod Rodwan, 7, of Detroit performs with his Creative Thinkers and Movers dance class, while he looks to Joori Jung for direction during the Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Joori Jung, 40, of Troy, embraces her student Luca Nixon, who has been dancing with her for four years and is now leaving for college, before his last performance with Artlab J at the end-of-season dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023. Jung says she was overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude thinking about how much Nixon has grown in life and in dance over the years while at Artlab J.
Baylee George, 6, of Detroit, receives flowers after her performance during the Artlab J end-of-season dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.
Baylee George, 6, of Detroit, receives flowers after her performance during the Artlab J end-of-season dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023.

That is when dance changed for Jung. She says she understood that humans just want to express themselves. Jung says she is thankful for that painful experience, because it helped her grow as a mother, and as a dancer.

Education is now a big part of ArtLab J. The power of dance not only bares dancers' life stories, but unites people across the divides of race, age, sex, class, gender, religion, class and experience.

“As I grow," Jung says, "ArtLab J grows.”

Joori Jung, 40, dances on stage during the end-of-season Artlab J dance recital at Marygrove Theatre in Detroit on June 9, 2023. Jung says one of her main goals for Artlab J is to create a healthy space/environment to create a healthy mind through human expression like dance. Jung's experience as a mother has changed her perspective of dance and broadened her horizon when it comes to dance and life.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Artlab J founder Joori Jung can't stop dancing in Detroit