Pungmul Kut Ensemble [풍물굿패], Seoul, ROK from helen h park on Vimeo.
A small sampling from the hours of ceremonies held during the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, Daeboreum.
Pungmul Kut Ensemble [풍물굿패] info can be found at: http://cafe.daum.net/pungmulbaram (in Korean)
For the first full moon of the Lunar New Year, this all day ceremony was held in a village of Suwon S. Korea.
More media to follow, but here’s a sampling.
Tonight will be going to a Pungmul performance in Seoul.
Post-performance note: This should be seen and experienced in a village, as shown in this video with plenty of maekju and time for breaks. The performance I attended was in a theater, but was incredibly dynamic nonetheless. It’s quite easy to understand how this translated into the music and dance for the student democracy movement.
just bizarre…
Two examples of Korean folk dance rooted in religious and ritual traditions. I have become particularly interested in these dances – both rooted in ancient Korean belief systems of shamanism and Buddhism respectively.
Originally intended as an exorcism to expel the bad spirits, Salpuri (살풀이):
Seungmu (승무) choreography is based in Buddhist philosophy. Movement is controlled and guided by the breath:
For those of you who don’t really know exactly why I am here (don’t worry, I’m figuring this out too as the days go by…), you may view my project proposal here:
States of Becoming: The Korea Project
This is the seed of thought that has brought me to where I am now, and will undoubtedly be adjusted and further defined as things progress. Your thoughts, comments, links, etc are welcome.
They say I should learn one Korean song for the 노래방 (no rae bang = song room = Korean Karaoke). Maybe I’ll try this one.
Tomorrow, August 15th is Independence Day in Korea, 광복절 (Kwang Bok Jeol) is the celebration of Korea’s independence from Japanese occupation.
To coincide with this, Ewha Woman’s University’s Institute of Unification Studies, based in Seoul, is hosting their 3rd annual benefit event for North Korean refugees:
click on images to enlarge.
