Korean traditional music.
First set of drummers
Close-up
Second set of drummers
Marching into the auditorium
Traditional drummers dance onstageTonight our friend Jenny gave us tickets to a traditional music performance at the Sokcho Cultural Center. Not knowing what to expect (but armed with my camera per Kelsey's instructions), we arrived at 7:00 and got a seat halfway back. The performance was underwritten by the Sokcho City Museum, and was therefore free :) We'd seen short performances of traditional Korean drumming before at select area festivals, but we'd never seen it quite like this or quite so close.
To start out the program, six drummers were onstage beating large temple drums, synched together with colorful lighting. They were tremendous, and halfway through performing began to use glow-in-the-dark drumsticks as the lights went out, to create a cool effect. They reminded us of what Blue Man Group would look like in Korea.
The second act was a group of six drummers, who each had a set of four drums. They were incredible. They did several different rhythms, and beat with such fury and frenzy that I thought they might put a hole in the floor! I've never seen drumming that fast. It was fun to watch them, hair flying, lights strobing red, yellow, green, blue, beating with such speed it seemed their lives depended on it.
They were followed by a national treasure of Korea, a traditional vocalist. She was good, but we didn't enjoy her as much as the drummers.
The last act was a group of traditional drummers/dancers. They wore white outfits with red and blue vests, and hats with white ribbons that spun and twirled as they moved their heads, creating a really cool effect. Some of them spin and flip as they beat their drums, which reminded me of whirling dervishes.
Since Sokcho is not Seoul, we try to seize these little cultural moments when we can--cool stuff! If you're interested, you can read more about the meaning and history behind Korean drumming here.
To start out the program, six drummers were onstage beating large temple drums, synched together with colorful lighting. They were tremendous, and halfway through performing began to use glow-in-the-dark drumsticks as the lights went out, to create a cool effect. They reminded us of what Blue Man Group would look like in Korea.
The second act was a group of six drummers, who each had a set of four drums. They were incredible. They did several different rhythms, and beat with such fury and frenzy that I thought they might put a hole in the floor! I've never seen drumming that fast. It was fun to watch them, hair flying, lights strobing red, yellow, green, blue, beating with such speed it seemed their lives depended on it.
They were followed by a national treasure of Korea, a traditional vocalist. She was good, but we didn't enjoy her as much as the drummers.
The last act was a group of traditional drummers/dancers. They wore white outfits with red and blue vests, and hats with white ribbons that spun and twirled as they moved their heads, creating a really cool effect. Some of them spin and flip as they beat their drums, which reminded me of whirling dervishes.
Since Sokcho is not Seoul, we try to seize these little cultural moments when we can--cool stuff! If you're interested, you can read more about the meaning and history behind Korean drumming here.
posted by streetwise at 7:17 AM
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