The Greatest of These: Love in Motion
A Reflection by Julianna Rubio Slager
Watching Seyong Kim’s Corinthians 13:13 unfold in the studio, I felt something shift in the air. There’s a weight to this ballet—not in heaviness, but in depth. The kind of depth that lingers. The kind of depth that reminds you why dance exists in the first place.
At its core, Corinthians 13:13 is about the one thing that remains when all else fades: love. Not just the fleeting, sentimental kind, but the love that sustains, transforms, and binds us together. It’s the force that moves the world, the deeper reality that underpins everything we believe in.
Dancing What Words Cannot Say
Seyong has this incredible ability to distill profound truths into movement. In Corinthians 13:13, the dancers don’t just perform steps—they embody love in all its forms. They express the struggle to trust, the ache of sacrifice, the joy of giving oneself fully to another. Every extension, every lift, every touch communicates something words could never quite capture.
There’s a moment in rehearsal that stopped me. A duet—simple, fluid, full of unspoken understanding. One dancer leans forward, vulnerable, and the other catches them without hesitation. The trust, the tenderness, the strength in that moment—it is love, laid bare.
And isn’t that what love does? It catches us. It holds when everything else breaks. It anchors us to something truer than ourselves.
Love: The Deeper Reality
This piece resonates so deeply within Of Light and Shadow because, in the end, love is the answer to every question the program asks. If The Cave wrestles with truth and illusion, and The Space in Between grapples with choice, then Corinthians 13:13 reminds us why truth matters, why the choice to step forward is worth it. Because at the center of it all—at the core of faith, at the foundation of reality—love remains.
In a world where division feels louder than unity, where fear and cynicism masquerade as strength, this ballet offers a counterpoint: Love is stronger. Love outlasts. Love binds us together.
— Julianna Rubio Slager