Many Days of Scanty Fieldnotes

May 2^nd, 2011

Monday I had 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum of course, but before that I went to meet Hilary and Won Il, a well known creative-contemporary-traditional performer and a professor of composition at K-Arts. I've wanted to meet him for some time, partially just because he sounds interesting, but mostly because since Karjam wants to record he'd be the right guy to introduce a studio or engineers or whatever. And sure enough he had some great ideas. It was a very productive, if quick meeting. Bongsan Talchum class was still a little under-populated, but Kim Yongcheol, Sumi, Yeonshik, Byeongho were there and one other guy whose name has slipped my mind. I did mini-interviews with Yongcheol and Byeongho.

May 3^rd, 2011

I had an amazing writing day, the first good days with several pages in weeks. In the evening I had 상모 sangmo with Hyeonseok and Yi Jonghui, of course. The latter took Hyeonseok and I out for dinner.

May 4^th, 2011

I intended to watch the K-Arts students rehearse, but I couldn't go because they'd be doing stage blocking with various staff members and it would have been a hassle to get permission for me to be there and I didn't want to trouble them when they were already stressing about the performance.

May 5^th, 2011

The K-Arts 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum team had their performance. I met Sumi at the subway station and we went together. The performance was outside and it got pretty chilly before the end, but we were getting sunburned in the beginning. Putting the sun behind the perfect angle to watch the performance is so silly. They could have oriented so the sun was over one shoulder or other…

Wonjung did an excellent job as 취발이 Chuibali, in general the performance was grand with many exciting things to watch, but not –good- mask dance. Many of the performers had no sense for the flavor that should come through with the performance, and the sections with 풍물 pungmul drumming and the singing section were by far the best, as they were closer to the natural talents and interests of the majority of students.

May 6^th, 2011

I had my first day of 사물놀이 samulnori class with 이종휘 Yi Jonghui. These classes will be at Sogang University, where 지용 Jiyong from 개전연 Gaejeonyeon is a student. When I arrived a few minutes before 8 there was a very strong 상모 sangmo vibe going on, and I had brought mine. We ended up doing sangmo until 9:30 then switching to 장구 janggu and 꽹과리ggwaenggwari until the end of class. I played janggu of course. 

At Korean National University of the Arts with Professor Choi Changju

April 10^th, 2011

Wasted day. More or less.

April 11^th, 2011

I had an amazingly thick research day.

I woke up and got going early, so worried I'd be late to meet 최창주 Choi Changju that I got off the subway by K-Arts almost an entire hour early. Choi is a 전수교육조교 jeonsu gyoyuk jogyo for 봉산탈춤Bongsan Talchum and is also a professor (in the 연희학과 Traditional Theatre Department of the School of the Traditional Arts) who teaches Bongsan Talchum and Korean dance and I gather also some arts marketing type courses, at least from time to time.

This is my second time to interview Choi formally. He'd offered for me to come and watch his class, and told me to meet him in the classroom at 11. It turned out the class started at 10, I guess he just didn't want me to sit through the whole thing, and he knew the first hour would be practicing 서도소리 Seodo Sori (songs in the style of the west coast, which generally means west coast –north- of Seoul in present day North Korea). There is a whole section of Bongsan Talchum with a long (and in my mind very awesome) group singing scene. For the performance in May the students will sing it, of course, as part of the Bongsan Talchum performance. The class included my Wonjung, Gaeun, Heesu and it would have included Inseon except she was sick. 김미애 Kim Miae, an 이수자 isuja was teaching the seodo sori. After Kim finished her section of the class and Choi introduced me to the students they took a break (this was just a few minutes after I arrived). I was able to talk to Gaeun and Heesu a little and learned, for example, that all the students will participate in the Bongsan Talchum singing section as well as several other parts, but that during class the 9 students who are featured in the performance's parts are practiced repeatedly.

Wonjung in the slate gray shirt (Heesu in the tie-dyed pants)

Choi and Kim leading class

This room was huge. I couldn't bounce the flash off the ceiling,  obviously.

Nojang is brought on stage by the 8 monks

They began with the basic motions, which they ran through twice. Choi ordered Wonjung to the center front and frequently throughout performance referred the other students to him. Then I got to watch the rehearsal, which was of Act 2: Dark Face Monks and Act 4: Nojang (Old Monk)'s Dance (except not his part just the part of the 8 other monks) and I was surprised how differently things were done. First of all the daesa monologues were different, including daesa inserted into the middle of the solo dance. Actually most of the same daesa were present, but sometimes longer and often moved around to another monk. Also the solo dances were usually longer. And the Old Monk's act included 4 of the monks grabbing the 4 pungmul instruments and playing, something Choi told the class that the Preservation Association can't do because they just don't have that level of pungmul skills. However all of these differences are present in the version of the script that Choi was using for the performance, a version he says hasn't been performed in a long time. During all of this (most parts were taken multiple times with Choi correcting in various ways) the students like Heesu and Gaeun were just sitting around pretty bored. That's when smart phones are handy. Kim drummed for all of this. I took a few photos.

After class I went to lunch with Choi, Kim and Wonjung at the cafeteria, it was only serving one main dish, thankfully it was a vegetarian option. We said good-bye to Kim then I interviewed Choi in his office (Wonjung went to class). At 3 I followed Choi to his next class, teaching 4^th year dance majors (all women). He was teaching them 사상좌 sasangjwa and the part of the 1^st of the eight monks to them. Which was interesting, as I've never seen that part taught. At any rate, they definitely danced like dance majors (as in, they made it all pretty, which it's not). I had to leave after an hour.

In the evening I went to KOUS for the third of 진옥섭 Jin Okseop's classes. I was in a bad mood from the time it started because someone asked the nice woman who checks attendance to come over and ask me to type my notes quieter. I am sitting on the far right of the theatre. Anyone could sit in the center section or even the left section (Jin even hangs out on the left side of the stage) and not hear a thing. Besides I have been very considerate and closed it every time the theatre is darkened or whatever, the previous week that was all but perhaps 25 minutes, so seriously, you want to complain that someone is taking notes? This despite the people who send text messages with the button noise on (beep beep beep) or even have their phones ring (not on vibrate) during class. This apparently is just fine. Students taking notes in a class, though, is highly disturbing.

In addition the class was lame. Jin showed a lot of really awesome incredibly old video clips I've never seen before (though I had heard of some of them). I would love to have a copy of all of them, and I will ask him later, maybe he'll share. Much of the content was on the mask dance dramas. But he spent the whole class on a series of tangents, where he never had to go into depth about any one subject instead he just made assertions, brought up a random supporting fact (that may not have been supporting if he went into depth). It showed his breadth of knowledge but no depth at all, and frustrated me to no end. I mean, with a scattering of misinterpreted facts –anyone- can appear to be making sense with data and research behind their statements. If that wasn't true, FOX would sound as stupid as it actually is to all the listeners. As it is, only people with more depth of knowledge are able to see exactly how stupid they are. So there I was sitting in the audience wanting to raise my hand and say "wait a second, in my conversations with Professor Choi Changju about Bongsan Talchum history earlier today he said… " or "but if you look at that another way…" or whatever but the format is this total one-way format where Jin is on the stage and we are in the audience, quiet as mice, except for evil things like typing computer keys of course. When class ended I was almost fuming. 

Jin Okseop Lecture 1

March 28th, 2011
I met up with my friend Hengyi Shr and her mother at 5, brought them home for dinner and then had to run out to a class at KOUS. The class, titled "진옥섭의 춤 이야기/Jin Okseopui Chum Iyagi" which is sort of like "Talking about Dance with Jin Okseop" or "Jin Okseop's Dance Talk/Story" was heavily advertised in the sorts of places where I see things. There was an article in the newspaper, even. The four classes, all on Monday nights, cost 50,000 won which I thought was a fairly reasonable fee. Also, I have already constructed a list of questions to ask Jin about the scheduling of traditional performances at KOUS (he's the artistic director). In my mind the class wouldn't be too large and he'd definitely notice me and I could ask him to do an interview before the class next week, or even the week after that. However when I arrived and signed in I found out that there were 118 registered students!

I went upstairs to get my seat and promptly ran into 안대천 Ahn Daecheon from 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae and 세정 Sejeong, 허창열 Heo Changyeol's girlfriend. A few minutes later Changyeol came in and after that a friend of Daecheon's who is a performer of 진도 씻김굿 Jindo Sshitgimgut (a shamanic ritual). It turned out that right now there is a grad class at K-Arts (I have finally realized that KNUA prefers to be called K-Arts which I guess is about as good of a name as KNUA, anyway) being taught by Jin and instead of attending class they have the option of coming to this lecture series instead. It was nice to be able to sit with friends during the lecture.

The lecture was somewhat of a let-down. I felt like he hadn't properly prepared. He was meandering and not particularly brilliant as he touched on many topics but not the ones that were listed for lecture one on the advertising material. He will undoubtedly get less attendance next week, which is a shame. He had an opportunity to teach something really important (and he even touched on why an educated audience is important for the quality of performance, for the feeling of the performers, etc) but didn't do it. He name dropped a lot about all the interesting people he knows and told little amusing stories about time with them. These people were almost all important performers, of course. But we learned more about their attitude towards coming to Seoul from the countryside to perform than we did about –dance-. He made a lot of jokes, but I didn't come for comedy, I came for a deeper understanding of traditional dance. He spent a while being very essentializing by talking about China and Korea and the West—all with MUCH too broad a brush. And he twice (at least an hour apart) discussed how hard he'd had to work to popularize Korean dance and run around to plead with the media to run stories in the paper etc. in order to actually get an audience. This was part of the general over-arching theme of "I am very important to the dance world in Korea."

Daecheon, who was next to me, looked very drowsy. Sejeong was on the other side and she was writing notes back and forth with Changyeol. They said they'd heard everything he'd said already, and that it was all in his book, as well, which they'd had to read at some point. Many audience members laughed at his jokes, though. The audience was predominantly female and mostly pushing 50 and in upper-class attire. Yep, it was a lecture for self-development of housewives.

By the way, the only joke that was funny was when he was characterizing each type of dance in Korea and he ends with "and modern dance? I feel sorry for them, they don't even have clothes!" The upside (besides seeing Daecheon, Changyeol and Sejeong)? Well, I understood -almost- all the Korean (well over 85% and when I couldn't follow it was because I lacked a couple really important vocab words), slightly making me feel better after my frustrations with that darn translating job.

From K-Arts to Bongsan Talchum to the Seoul History Museum

March 23rd, 2011
The research activity of the day was to go see the 한국종합예술학교 K-Arts students practice 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae again. Karjam came with me, expressing his desire not to go basically at every moment. We arrived right at 8, and some students were eating dinner still. However they started before too long. 태환 Taehwan announced the performance date—May 7th.

They did basic motions with 희수, 혜미, 재윤, 준영 playing instruments. Then they did act one, Taehwan felt a big heavier in his motions. As he practiced 윤만 was practicing his own stuff, while 혜미 and 정운 were in the back of the room eating dinner.

Next they practiced act three, but they kept stopping and taking things again. 만희, 준영, 정우, everyone basically was on 희수's case for continually screwing it up. He must have a hard time remembering stage blocking. As for 만희 he got very little correction, but when he did he responded that 창열 had said he was doing it right but 대천 had agreed with the critique, so he was trying to find a middle ground.

Act two was next and 정우 looked a lot more masculine. They went through the act with no interruptions, although at one point 민기 just announced that he'd take his line over again (and did so). Afterwards they had a discussion of what went right and what needs to change. 정우 and 민기 get in a discussion about where (on the stage) to do the dialogue. 민기 says "when the teachers perform, 원양반 does a circle like this right in the center." And acts it out.

Act five was next. 준영 had hurt his leg and couldn’t move very well, but it almost worked better (certainly funnier). They took the parts several times esp. the part with the two songs, trying to get the timing all right. During one of his parts 윤만 tells everyone "don't laugh" because he's having a hard time due to difficulty keeping a straight face.

Last of all they practice act 4, and the two "ladies" are played by 정운 and 재윤(not the normal actors) and they totally goof around making it hard for 경진 to concentrate, but it's all in good fun.

At the end of the practice the students completely confirmed my absolutely positive impression of them. They were so awesome. They all came and sat down in front of Karjam and introduced themselves as a group and asked him to introduce himself and then to sing. And then Karjam asked them to sing (they sang a mourning song from 진도 씻김 굿) and then they asked me to give them feedback on the days rehearsal (my general feedback was that they were getting so much better and that now they were more comfortable with the roles they'd be able to fix the little things). Karjam was happy on the way home. He was definitely impressed.

March 24th, 2011
The research activity of the day was to go to 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum class, but I was a bit late because of the sudden heavy wet snow shower that snarled traffic. In class we had 12 people not including 김은주 Kim Eunju but including 인수 Insu who was there to practice his drumming accompaniment skills (which meant that Eunju was able to move around and teach without drumming). 박용철 Bak Yongcheol had brought another of his troupe people, a huge man, to class. 현석 Hyeonseok was there, too. And I felt guilty I hadn't come earlier, he'd been there waiting since 5:30 without dinner since his family doesn't have the money to spare. I guess I need to feed him every week as well as paying his tuition (to be fair, he doesn't know I do that). We practiced all the way through the monk parts and did lion dance at the end.

March 25th, 2011
On Friday I spent hours with 지수 Jisu again, then rushed home, changed, and went to a meeting of "Pine and Tiger" (a special group for discussion of issues related to tourism/expressing Korean culture to foreigners) which was a bit unsatisfying as Director 엄승용 Eom Seungyong was so late and we just couldn't have the meeting right without him. We did, however, tour the 서울역사박물관 Seoul History Museum. It is devoid of English, but actually has a lot of awesome displays—photos from the late 50s and early 60s, a display of items from daily life, and a great diorama of the city. After touring around we went to dinner, half way through Eom Seungyong finally joined us. The group didn't really jell, although I think I made a great impression on the two Korean members. Karjam and I saw "The King's Speech" in the evening.

Watching Goseong Practice at KNUA

March 15th, 2011
I worked on the computer. Had lunch with Sarah. Worked on the computer. Went to 상모 sangmo class.

In class there was 현석 Hyeonseok, 지수 Jisu (who has not practiced since the fall), 성현 Seonghyeon and I. 이종휘 Yi Jonghui decided to loan me his really awesome whip part on the sangmo, and it is heavier than mine and spins SO SMOOTHLY. I looked in the mirror and partially because of the superior equipment, but partially because I really have improved a thousand fold, I was momentarily amazed that it was actually me making those perfect motions. Jonghui, as usual, was a hardass and made us repeatedly practice the same thing… I wanted to do 나비사 nabisa with his whip, but no, instead I did reversed direction circles for the second week—but those look almost as good as the counter-clockwise regular circles, now.

March 16th, 2011
I had lunch with Jan, a German guy studying Korean and interested in doing research on 판소리 pansori, worked on translation, and went to KNUA to see everyone practicing. First I met 혜미 Haemi and 경진 Gyeongjin for dinner. We just went to a little Korean-style fast-food place (a 분식 bunshik). But I bought their dinner and also bought some drinks for everyone while practicing at the market. During vacation they both worked at different kinds of drinking establishments, and they told me they'd been practicing three times a week, giving each other critical feedback. Classes started at the beginning of March and they're learning 양주별산대 Yangju Byeolsandae, 경기도 새남굿 Gyeonggido Saenamgut (a shamanic ritual, they learn the music and dance primarily), they have a lot of theory classes this term, too. They also mentioned that 창열 Changyeol was going to come to evening rehearsal. When we got to campus and the practice room everyone was there except for 기영 Giyeong who was at a funeral. I got tons of totally awesome hugs when I arrived. I scribbled six notebook pages of notes while watching, to summarize:
In addition to Changyeol, 안대천 Ahn Daecheon also came to practice, as he's a whole gigantic one year older than Changyeol, he talked most of the time and Changyeol was relatively quiet. Daecheon's wife and daughter (who's less than a month) also came to practice.

The students began with the basic motion set followed by 덧뷔기 deotbuigi. 재윤 Jaeyun played the 꽹과리 ggwaenggwari and Haemi played the 장구 janggu (because during the performance as well they'll be the primary musicians). As soon as they finished the basic motions then they moved directly into Act 1 (문둥북춤 Mundung Bukchum). 태환 Taehwan was playing the part and I thought he looked a lot more fluid, if a bit repetitive in his motions. But Daecheon criticized him intensely, particularly focusing on the fact that he didn't convincingly show his interest in the 소고 sogo before he came and tried to pick it up.

The students moved onto the second act, but after a couple minutes Daecheon stopped them again, this time with pointers that they needed to seem more excited to be "at play" than they were, how they should avoid 말뚝이 Malddugi's whip and so on. He said they didn't even look like they were worried they'd get hit. After a bit more criticism and an example of how several characters should be acting, the scene started again. As 민기 Min'gi entered the center for the Malddugi solo it was clear he was hesitant, he looked down at the floor and shook his head after small mistakes or to shake out the next move. Daecheon stopped them again, talked to Min'gi (but somewhat mildly it seemed to me) and criticized the musicians, saying they weren't connecting with the dancers. When 정우 Jeong'u had to do his solo for 원양반 Won Yangban he had the half smile that says "oh crap, I'm going to screw up." He also kept his head down a lot, biting his lip and faltering on his speeches. Min'gi lost his balance on a dance solo, to his evident embarrassment. While they were practicing next to me Gyeongjin was running through the monk's steps. It seemed obvious to me that the students may have been rarely practicing or not practicing at all and before long Daecheon announced that they were all worse than they'd been at Goseong (so does that mean he and Changyeol hadn't stopped in at all until the day I came?). Daecheon even questioned if Jeong'u was right for the part, asking everyone if they'd been practicing their individual dances, and asserting that everyone needed to practice special dance parts at least three times per day and then when rehearsing show some awareness of where the audience is, where the edge of the stage is, what angle to look at and generally to keep the energy level high, which it was not. The second time through Jeong'u looked more masculine and confident and he remembered all the dialogue, making me really think they just hadn't been practicing enough to remember stuff.

Act 3 went pretty smoothly and it runs out to the end, but Daecheon points out that the Yangban should move more like a yangban. Also they must choose where on the stage to do certain things and then keep doing it that way when they practice.

Act 4 is barely criticized, and Gyeongjin doesn't make any mistakes but the two women are told they don't look feminine enough and Daecheon points out a lack of intention in the mood- the old monk must seem like he's really into the women.

Act 5 was criticized by far the most. The blocking is off on the stage, the group hasn't practiced enough together, and Changyeol says it wasn't even funny, though it should be. Changyeol says it was "제일 보기 싫어" (the one that was the most painful to watch), basically all parts of it are wrong, even to the fact that the students hadn't brought props they need for the practice. They were told they looked like they didn’t want to be practicing. "Get your mood up! Don't depend on us to be here, figure this out for yourself." The students answer that they'll practice every day from April, but Daecheon and Changyeol want them to find places and ways to practice every day now, separated by act being fine.

Then Act 5 is told to practice again and again, until at least 11 pm but around 10:30 everyone else is excused worried about timing to get home, I left, too.

Dissertation Ideas Coming Together

March 14th, 2011
I worked on translation most of the day, then went to 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum class at the 중요무형문화재전수회관 Training Center for Intangible Korean Cultural Assets. Today was actually a sort of pivotal day for me at this class. For months, as you know but I rarely explain, I have been figuring out how to write about the things I do in my dissertation. I can't say everything, so I have to pick relative and important aspects to develop, right?

I've been leaning towards a certain focus with my chapter that will be primarily about Bongsan Talchum, and tonight two conversations that I had really brought it together for me. First of all, I have been thinking of this as a chapter on Bongsan Talchum, and as such I've thought that the primary people in this chapter were 김은주 Kim Eunju (my usual teacher), 장용일 Jang Yongil (who sometimes teaches and I like him and he's a senior member of the group who I have interviewed multiple times) and other group members. But now I understand that the real point in this chapter is about the people who are coming to learn and the fact that they are almost entirely made up of people who are already invested in either performing or traditional arts on a full-time basis, and they regard Bongsan Talchum class as a new skill to pick up and utilize somehow in the process of personal advancement (much like an office worker might try to polish his English fluency or get certified in a new computer program).

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of the Bongsan Talchum students, 박연식 Bak Yeonshik, turned out to be the leader of a 풍물 pungmul group that performed at the 대보름 daeboreum celebration in 송파 Songpa. Tonight I pushed him on what else he does, because he said he was teaching class during the day. He is employed with government funds (have to find out who his actual employer is) to go to five different schools where he teaches 민요 minyo (songs), 단소 vertical flute, 장구 janggu (drum), 국악 이론 traditional music theory and 정채성 Korean thought/philosophy. He rotates through 5 different schools the five days of the week. On Monday he teaches 3 classes, with a total of 25 students at a small school in a rural area, on Tuesday he has 180 students in 6 classes, on Wednesday 15 in an even smaller school, in fact he has 3 classes and one class has only 3 students, the entire fifth and sixth grade. Thursday he has 90 students, also in 3 classes and on Friday he has 120 students in four classes. He said that approximately 8% of Korean schools have someone like him to supplement their Korean music education (since the regular teachers are incapable) but that it was a higher amount before 이명박 Yi Myeongbak became president.

There was a student I hadn't met before tonight, he'd come on Thursday at least a couple times according to 하연 Hayeon. His name was 김용철 Kim Yongcheol. I stepped into a conversation during the evening that showed me (because he was also moving in demonstration) that he had significant dance training but then we had to get back to our class, so I quizzed him after class ended. He was born in 1965, he has his BA from Keimyung University in dance, then his MA and Ph.D. are from Sejong University also in Dance. The Sejong programs were theoretical programs but his focus was on choreography. He's performed around the world primarily in 창작 new creations for Korean dance (his aren't enormously traditional as he incorporates b-boy or modern dance moves with traditional moves). For four years he worked with the Seoul City Dance Company, but now he's teaching—he teaches at 한예종 KNUA, Sejong University and Jungang University as an adjunct professor of dance. He is particularly interested in Bongsan to learn new moves that he can work with in creating new works and keeping in shape because he has to keep up with his students.

Making ends meet in traditional arts. It'll be a lively section of my dissertation.

Recruiting Performers

February 13th, 2011
Ironically despite going to bed early, I managed to sleep late. So late, in fact, that I woke up only 41 minutes before I needed to be at the subway station by 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli. I allow, ordinarily, an hour and twenty minutes for the trip; it's nowhere near my house. By slipping into the wrong clothes (for movement) and skipping any sort of grooming or eating I was able to get into a taxi in eight minutes and make it to the subway station so early I had time to buy a half dozen donuts before 허창열 Heo Changyeol, 심재윤 Shim Jaeyun, 이정우 Yi Jeong'u and their classmate from KNUA 장호 Jangho showed up.

I walked with them to 서울놀이마당 Seoul Noli Madang, feeling sicker by the moment. We bowed in the office, then proceeded to the practice room where 이병옥 Yi Byeong'ok talked to them about the art and led everyone through basic motions. I must admit the three students (not Changyeol) were a bit confused, since this wasn't rehearsal for the performance on Thursday, but I want to snare them into liking Songpa Sandae Noli, so they've got to get introduced at some point! However I felt so lousy I had a hard time following along and felt sort of embarrassed at my performance.

After that we walked through the 송파다리밟기 Songpa Dari Balpgi performance under the assumption that they would all do the part of lantern carriers (this was later changed on the phone).

I hurried home, rested and then wrote in Chans Bros (coffee shop) until closing.

Final Performance at the Goseong Ogwangdae Intensive

January 29th, 2010

I woke at 7 and made a huge batch of 뒨장찌게 bean paste stew and salad (green cabbage base with strawberries in it). After breakfast everyone changed into 민복 minbok and headed to the main hall. I hung back a bit to clean up, then to meet Heike, a friend of mine who was teaching at ANU when I went there for a conference in 2005. She is now teaching at Gyeongsang University (in Jinju) running their international studies section (and teaching politics). Just like last week the performance started with a 고사 gosa ceremony, with 이재훈 Yi Jaehun talking the students through the process. The mixed team performed first, and the 말뚝이 Malddugi needed to be cued repeatedly and screwed up the dance a bit, the monk's dance performer also got lost several times in the choreography. The KNUA students did a great job, but it wasn't as much fun as the first performance because they didn't make a lot of funny mistakes. However there were a ton of wardrobe malfunctions. Masks coming off, pants that fell down, ties that came untied. 정우 Jeong-u needed to be cued on his part (원양반 Won Yangban), too.






After the performance we had lunch, Heike joined us before checking out the mask dance museum and going back to Jinju. That was followed by a large amount of cleaning to get the space back into good shape before we left. I took several loads to the main building, and used the opportunity to talk to the teachers and others there. Gave 이윤석 Yi Yunseok a solid good-bye, gave my card to 영욱 Yeong'uk from "The Gwangdae" and Daecheon. Hugged Changyeol, relieved that I only have to wait until Saturday to see him. I love him, he's totally awesome. As soon as Karjam comes back I'm inviting him and his girlfriend, 세정 Sejeong, over for dinner. It was sad to leave. As soon as we got on the bus most of the students fell asleep. Before we were halfway to Seoul, it was snowy and freezing. At the rest stops I could hardly manage to get to the building and back on the bus, and remarked that we should turn around and head back to Goseong.



We reached KNUA campus around 8, and I took the long subway ride home, stopping at the bakery and the market on the way up the hill as I couldn't stomach the idea of leaving home again that evening.

January 30th, 2011

I stayed home and transferred audio and photo files, labeling and editing. Please look back over the last two weeks worth of entries to see photos inserted in the next day or two.

Being Filmed by SBS

January 27th, 2011
I woke up fairly easily (since I felt like I had never gotten into a deep sleep all night) and shook 민기 Min'gi awake so that he could make breakfast (I didn't even bother to try with 혜미 Haemi who is on today's cooking crew, too. It's just not going to happen).

After breakfast when I got to the training center the SBS TV crew was already there. We had our morning class in the Mask Dance Museum (on the second floor), the whole time with the TV camera practically right in my face, or on the floor right under my feet. It was a bit stressful (to say the least). 전광열 Jeon Gwangyeol came to teach us, but didn't talk a lot, I was a bit disappointed about that. At one point Daecheon had the two who will perform on the last day and then me dance in the center of the circle, while holding the real stick, instead of just a little bamboo wand. I did amazingly well (it was hard to follow other's motions from that position) and was very proud of myself, although suddenly using the heavy and long stick was kind of odd. I went to lunch with the TV crew (and 창열 Changyeol) because the lunch for the students was going to be meat. After lunch we sat in the freezing cold main hall and they interviewed me for about 75 minutes without a break. It was so hard. I always doubt my vocabulary at moments like that. Not to mention every other aspect of my Korean. But they kept asking me questions I knew the answer to and had a lot of opinions about.
"Why don't Korean like traditional arts?"
"Uh, Koreans don't even know traditional arts, if they ever watched them with an open mind they'd probably like them a lot."

For afternoon practice, even though it was much colder than yesterday we went back to the quay we practiced on yesterday. My hands got really cold and my leg muscles started freezing up, but it was really awesome, it was sunny (which it hadn't seemed all day, it was only sunny after we got to the ocean, I swear) and a bit breezy and after practicing as a group we had to break down, first three at once, followed by a period of 안대천 An Daecheon helping us with our weak spots, then we had to do it two at a time. I did it was 혜미 Haemi and did pretty well. As we were going to leave Jeon showed up with 호떡 cinnamon sugar stuffed rice pancakes for everyone. We ate them with great relish, then went back to the same place we had snacks the day before and had 막걸리 makgeolli with 떡볶이spicy rice noodles and 오뎅 boiled fish cakes.




The SBS people left (they'll be back tomorrow evening) and I interviewed Changyeol then fell asleep out of pure physical exhaustion. For dinner suddenly Hwang Jong'uk informed us that he'd be taking us all out to dinner, which he did, at a meat buffet. Literally you picked up all the different types of raw meat and grilled it on the table. I had pumpkin rice soup and a lot of 김밥 kimbap, as that was about all that I could eat. It was very very generous of him, taking 25 people (24 other people, because he took out some instructors and all the "The Gwangdae" members as well as us) out to dinner like that was definitely not cheap.

Our group is playing a new game of sorts: at lunch we all drew a name, then the first mission was to send that person a text message. We can't let them or anyone know we drew them, though. Of course since I only had two people's phone numbers, I got someone else. At dinner I went around and got almost everyone's numbers, then sent a lot of text messages to disguise who was my actual person (Min'gi). I still have no idea who drew my name.

Inseon and Minji sat across from me at dinner:


In the evening after dinner everyone assembled in the main building, with Act 5 rehearsing in the small practice room downstairs and the rest upstairs. Changyeol ran through Act 3 (Bibi) with the people who will perform this week, teaching them how to say the dialectical dialogue and where to accent it, as well as stage blocking. A little later 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk came upstairs and oversaw practice, drumming and calling out directions while having a conversation with 혜미 Haemi at the same time. His running commentary exposed his opinion of the motion execution as the 문둥춤 Mundung Dance crew rehearsed the motions in a large circle. The dance is that of a leper with a fair amount of disease progression, showing his hardship and frustration with his physical condition, which at the end of the dance he overcomes enough to actual express joy. I'd learn it, but there is a hint to me, in some of the motions of a very non-PC making fun of the person with the degenerative disease. It especially feels that way when people can't do it very well and they sort of overdo it.

After Hwang watched the four individual dances (not the Old Wife, who is rehearsing with the Act 5 group downstairs), two sets of dancers at a time, he ordered those who would do the final performances to dance, starting with the 말뚝이 Malddugi dancers. The guy who will dance for the other group is really hopeless, both as a dancer and as a memorizer of the set of motions. Oh well. It's not chosen according to who is the best, because if it was, you'd see the repeat students often learning the same thing again and then dancing that for the final performance based on experience, whereas the stress of preparing for the final performance will give some of these younger first year/first time students a huge leg up once they get back to their universities and practice with this groups. Next the 원양반 Won Yangban people came out. Then 승무 monk's dance (the key people in the outer robe so that they could experience the very long sleeves). Last of all was the Mundung dance group. When everyone finished Hwang said "some people are of course better than others. Some work harder. But you need to look in the mirrors and see your motion and try to figure out how to improve your own motion, so that you can do it without looking in the mirror in the future. Read the dialogue and think about the meaning behind the dance and the characters. Why do the rhythmic patterns change, the whole piece shouldn't be exactly the same energy, put the energy in the right place. The dance is important, but the dialogue and stage blocking is also important. If you don't know what it means, you need to ask someone, because you'll never make it come out right, otherwise. Okay? Today watching you guys I can't give you 30 out of 100. You still have a long way to go. Some of you don't even remember the order of motions yet. Tomorrow, practice all day so we can have a good final performance. You understand? You really need to make the motions right with the mirror. If you are uncomfortable with how you look, how do others feel when they watch you? Don't just look at the KNUA students, you're not the same, you should do it your way. 헐!" (Heol is this slang thing these days, it was funny that Hwang said it, although a bit misplaced, according to my understanding.) Then we all bowed and that was the end of the practice.

Back at our rooms another 뒤풀이 duipuli began even though I don't think there was one student who really wanted to drink. The reason for the evening was that the old 조교 jogyo (kind of like a TA but they never teach, just run professorial errands and make copies and answer phones and stuff) had come to see how the students were doing. I made ginger tea and went to sleep pretty early (1:30), but during the night the heat never came back.

We Start Basic Motions (for the second week)

January 24th, 2010
I cannot emphasize enough how sweet these KNUA kids are. If you were a solid group of students all from one major, how would you feel is someone nearly 20 years older than you, with no real connection to your school was suddenly hanging around? But these kids—I haven't even asked and they've adjusted to making all major dishes either vegetarian or cooking the meat on the side. They're unfailingly polite and interested. They're helpful to my research, they explain things I don't understand carefully, they're an absolute credit to their families and to their university. Not one has any sort of diva-esque behavior that you might expect with kids from a performing arts department, yet they evince much more independent thought and behavior than many Korean college kids that I know. Last night 정운 Jeong-un and ONLY Jeong-un went and rehearsed the 개인무 individual dance she'd learned last week (말뚝이 Malddugi). 경진 Gyeongjin decided to go to the mini-mart (twenty minutes walk each way) at midnight. She didn't need someone to go with her. And they come up with quite individual stuff to say. I wait to see how individual their interviews will end up.

After breakfast we headed to the big hall, where we started with an opening ceremony again, much like the previous week. After that each group was told to present something (everyone presented songs) and the quality of the singing was just amazing, the 판소리 pansori specialist from the theatre troupe sang, as did 혜미 Haemi (I learned when interviewing her before lunch that she in fact started singing 민요 minyo under the tutelage of relatives who are 경기민요 Gyeonggi Minyo preservation association members when she was not yet in elementary school), and some of the other students presented a pop song by Girl's Generation (with movement). 동수 Dongsu sang as well. This week the (all of the?) other members of "The Gwangdae" showed up. This is a team headed by 대천 Daecheon but also including 창열 Changyeol and 영호 Yeongho, it used to include 고석진 Go Seokjin and perhaps others of the Goseong guys as well, but everyone gets busy and what not. At any rate, it's a traditional performing arts troupe, and these other members who have shown up are not preservation association members, but they do seem fairly conversant with the motions already, based on what I saw today. These members also sang.

After all that was done, we divided into two groups and each group did their basic motions, the theatre troupe made up the bulk of the other group. 이윤석 Yi Yunseok, the national human treasure, taught us with a lot of explanation, and his normal barking/shouting exclamations (which I think people just find interesting and fun after they get over the initial shock). One thing he said today that I think he's said before but I made special note of it is "신명은 불림타고 나온다" or "The joyful expression of feelings (shinmyeong) arrives via calling out the starting song (bullim)." Actually that's still a very rough translation, I know exactly what it means in Korean, but it's hard to express since shinmyeong is a very complex term and it's all very cultural. At any rate, when you start the basic motions (and all the other mask dance dramas have bullim, too) you call out some words to start, with 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae it's "산 좋고, 물 좋고 어절씨구 좋다." Which means roughly speaking "The mountain is good, the water is good, it's all good." So we have to call this out with proper accent (and the motions correspond with the accent—when the tone is rising up, our arms are rising) and then we begin the motion set. There is one other time during the basic motion set that there is bullim, at almost the end. "아이 좋다 아이 좋다 어절씨구 좋다." Or even more roughly speaking "Ah, it's good, ah, it's good, it's all good." But mind you this is a –very—exciting point in the dance, so it's basically when your motions are not enough of a celebration, when your chest is breaking with a need to express EVEN MORE than you can do through joyful dancing, then you are crying out (in concert with everyone else). It's a fairly amazing feeling, even more amazing when you do the basic motion set without a break 3 or 4 times in a row.

Lunch and then more dancing, again with Yi teaching us and then Dongsu practicing the motions. Dongsu always puts much more emphasis on motion and less on explanation, so we end up practicing a lot more times. Afterwards we had yoga again, the same teacher but he had us try to do some sort of lying down meditation thing, and I swear everyone fell asleep, it was pretty funny because at the end we all sat up, except two people, 만희 Manhee and 정운 Jeong'un, who just kept sleeping as the yoga teacher wrapped up the class.

After yoga I went to the market with 민지 Minji and 가은 Ga'eun, where we bought the supplies needed for the next two or three days worth of meals. I spent some of my own money to buy a few things to make the food for my team (tomorrow) just a little bit more special.

Back at our place almost everyone was in the men's room, reveling in the hot floor, wrapped up in blankets. As usual there was someone who wanted to see what was on the TV (in the unheated main room) and there were a few people assisting or at least talking with the cooking team. It was all very relaxing.

In the evening practice we followed along with Dongsu for an hour, then the groups split up. Changyeol led a group of the KNUA students through the basic motions while I made notes. "Stop being so soft and floaty. It's a male dance. Use your shoulders (dramatic shoulder demonstration)." He'd move through a sequence of motions, maybe only 5 or 6 motions, then explain, then lead them again.His motions were strongly extended at times and very distinct in their placement. He would stop and do it in slow motion to demonstrate exactly how it had to be done. "Don't do it roughly somewhere around here (gestures) do it exactly like this (demonstrates)." He uses a confident, strong and slightly projecting voice to teach, but it is also kind and respectful. Jeong'un asks a question, and he answers calmly and authoritatively. "This, too, be careful if it's the back of your hands up or not." "Do this exactly, extend your arms on the diagonal completely." "See here how the hand rotates?" "This motion has to be accented right here, fooo-ur." "This is big and strong. Seeeeee-ven." When he slaps his knee for one motion it seems so hard it'll leave a bruise. "Step forward on this." "Make sure you're running the previous motion into the next motion." He stops working in the circle and has them all face the mirror behind him. "The flavor will come out if you do it like this (demonstrates)." The students clap, thanking him for his teaching. And they laugh with his demonstrations. "Find the feeling" he explains, "no matter if you're doing this or playing ggwaenggwari."

He tells me, "this is stuff they need to hear, because they're professionals, I wouldn't teach ordinary people like this" when he rejoins me after leading the practice. Then he goes back to teaching them, but from the chair this time. "Spread out, use both hands. Move the shoulder, tuuuu, see-ven eight, one… ha! Hoot!" "All the way to the end of your fingers, you need to be dancing with all of it." He counts to show the accent for the students as they continue. "Straighten your back." "Look what you're doing." Then he laughs and grins with someone who I presume is doing what he wants, as he gets a big grin in return. "With strength! Use your shoulders! Straighten! Foooo-ur! That's what I taught you! To the end of your arms! That's it." He gets out of his chair again. "You really have to practice the jumping motion a lot; you'll never get it right, otherwise."

While Changyeol is teaching the KNUA students, Daecheon is supervising the members of "The Gwangdae" who aren't Goseong Ogwangdae guys already, and correcting their motions, just the three of them. When the lesson ends, the three line up and bow to him, all together. Seongbeom leads a group of five women who are really unfamiliar with the dance through the motions, with many exclamations of "that's the way." Across the room another teacher, 김재명 Kim Jaemyeong, is busy teaching a group of around fifteen students.

After the practice we had 뒤풀이 duipuli until late into the night at our place. First 솔기 Solgi, the graduate of KNUA who is with the theatre troupe came and we were all having 김치전 Kimchijeon and drinking either 막걸리 makgeolli or 소주 soju, later Changyeol showed up as well. I went to sleep when I got tired, but I gather that was several hours before the rest.

Practicing for the Performance

January 20th, 2010
As the three designated cooked breakfast (most of) the rest of us headed to the main hall to clean it after the previous evenings' party. The moment I opened the door the smell of 막걸리 makgeolli hit us like a wave. The polished wooden floor was spotted with the residue of the milky drink.

After breakfast and the morning meeting we separated into the groups for each of the main parts (승무 the monk's dance, 말뚝이 Malddugi (the clever servant), 원양반 Won Yangban (the leader of the upper class gentlemen), 문둥 Mundung (the leper) and 큰어미 the old wife). Our group of 13 plus the driver packed into a vehicle designed to seat 9. We went downtown to practice in a community center, but it turned out there was a previous schedule there and we had to come back again to the Mask Dance Museum. The community center was interesting, though. In addition to the room we were supposed to rehearse in, there were a lot of rooms we didn't see, but one we did had two small rooms with large TVs, about seven internet connected computers, desks and chairs and a small library (libraries outside universities are pretty rare in Korea). If I lived here I think I'd really enjoy going there often. Back at the museum we rehearsed under 하현갑 Ha Hyeon'gap, the same person who taught me the monk's dance in 2009. I was able to follow along well enough, but I do wish I hadn't missed the whole day yesterday.

After lunch we went back to the community center to practice. Ha Hyeon'gap wandered off and didn't come back for 45 minutes at one point, just the same as I remember from 2009. In the early evening we had a presentation on 삼천포농악 Samcheonpo Nongak from 진주 Jinju, the first kind of 풍물 pungmul to be registered with the Cultural Property Protection Law. The speaker, their National Human Treasure was very interesting. After 이연석 Yi Yeonseok invited me to join him and the other members of the preservation association and some guys associated with the Samcheonpo Nongak Human Treasure for dinner. We all piled into vehicles and drove off, I thought that it couldn't be worse than dinner with the students, and perhaps better. However, it was pheasant- raw, deep fried, and in soup. That meant there wasn't a regular plain soup and I essentially ate just rice, nori and kimchi. In other words, I was almost wishing I'd stayed with the students, today some decent cooks were on duty.

In the after dinner practice session people started to get really intense about their practice. 가은 Ga-eun who will perform 승무 Seungmu for the KNUA student team can't remember the order of the motions yet and is a bit frustrated. The mixed team practiced their Act 5 (Old Wife) to great amusement. I was almost rolling around laughing. 정운 Jeong'un and 민지 Minji will perform Act 3, the funniest in my opinion.

Cell phone photos of 성범 Seongbeom and 창열 Changyeol demonstrating Act 3:



After rehearsals we had a 뒤풀이 duipuli at our housing with just us and the instructors led by 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk who bought a bunch of meat and booze for the students (he is their professor at KNUA), 안대천 Ahn Daecheon (a graduate student at KNUA) , 허창열 Heo Changyeol (also a grad student at KNUA), and 김범성 Kim Beomseong. I came here in 2009 and stayed in the building next to the main hall and office building, we had to cook in a kitchen with no water, and do our dish-washing outside and one floor below the kitchen. The showers were not just cold water, they were freezing water. I expected the same thing this time but instead the Mask Dance Museum's third floor has been made into a sort of group housing with three major rooms, a shower room and a bathroom. The shower has enough pressure that one person can be in the room at a time (despite the number of shower heads), and the room feels colder than outside (still below freezing), and the water temperature varied yesterday from not even in the region of luke warm to hot enough I had to adjust to add some cold water. But that's much better than no hot water at all. The biggest room we've mostly kept unheated, and it has a small TV. That's where the party was. The women sleep in the kitchen (originally it was the warmest but now the men's room has been the last couple days. We have no idea why). The kitchen is functional, the hot water also comes and goes, but we can wash food and dishes right next to where we're chopping and cooking. BUT I have to mention only our group is here, the other students (25+ others) are in the facilities I stayed in before. I'm lucky I'm with these guys.

The duipuli was very interesting, research wise. Since I didn't drink I could pay sharp attention, but it's sad how hard it is to recall details and I wish I had been able to record the entire thing. Led by Hwang there were a lot of very meaningful toasts. Hwang, Beomseong, Daecheon and Changyeol all imparted their advice and wisdom and thoughts to the students, some of whom also had to give answering extended toasts. Among themes: you could have been in the teams studying 양주별산대 Yangju Byeolsande or 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum on campus, instead you're here. It requires more effort, longer hours, living together, cooking, loss of freedom, etc. But there are advantages—among which the understanding of Goseong Ogwangdae that you could get if you actually were in Goseong being much greater than if you just learned on campus from Hwang and Changyeol. They can feel the environment, meet all or many of the performers, and get a more holistic understanding of the mask dance drama. There was a lot of associated discussion of what they could do this weekend (we're off class from Saturday midday or so until Sunday late afternoon early evening meeting). Cultural stuff was offered out (like learning to make a 창성 changseong or Korean totem pole type figure from a log) as were things the students seemed more excited about like going to a 찜질방 jjimjilbang and soaking and relaxing. Another theme was their future as performing artists and attracting an audience – this is one I sort of started by among other things telling them that the other students were their future audience, that they needed to reach out to these people who were already interested in the arts and get them to come to the their shows. Reach out to them. The one thing I really appreciated about the way the evening went was their openness to the students not drinking alcohol for once. There was water, soda and juice and several students drank mostly or all non-alcoholic beverages. Trying to remember more what was said I asked 민지 Minji and 가은 Ga-eun, they remembered only the latter point above, and Ga-eun explained that in her head right now is just (she gestures to different places on her head) "monk's dance, monk's dance, monk's dance, monk's dance." Although only one of the students is a mask dance majors, there was a fair amount of talk from their part of how much more fun they were having than they'd expected and how they now felt two weeks was short.

They really are living well here. There has yet to be a really awful meal (well, of the one's I could eat). The students are surprisingly good at cooking, and they're not cheap—soon we'll have to contribute money again. When they buy food, they also buy snacks and no one is kept away from them, it's accepted that everyone needs a snack from time to time. They use plenty of fresh vegetables in their cooking, compared to the students who I was matched with in 2009, the food situation is ideal. Of course it's not what I'd eat on my own (most of the time), but I'm a special case with my diet.

Jeong-u dishes up rice & the students play Rock, Paper, Scissors-- ultimate winner at the top of the stack.

From Seoul to Goseong (again)

January 19th, 2010
Although I was happy to be able to pay my bills on time and eat my own choice of foods, it was very frustrating to spend almost 50 dollars on the transport to Seoul and be with the doctor less than 4 minutes, only about 20 seconds of which was examining the results of the surgery. Not only that but the hospital was so far behind that even though they snuck me in before my 2:30 slot, it was still 3:10 when I saw the doctor, which means I just missed the 3:40 bus and had to take the 4:30. I brought donuts for the students.

I got to the training center at 8:40 and practiced the monk's dance, 승무 Seungmu, for almost an hour under 경진 Gyeongjin's tutelage. Today they learned about 2/3 of the dance, tomorrow is going to be tough. But I am very good at following along and fortunately I did learn it back in summer 2009. Back at our rooms I cut each donut into two pieces so people could have half of two different flavors and the students devoured them as though they were starving. The students (who will perform the three acts with 대사 scripts) split into different rooms according to scene and sat or lolled on the floor as they worked on memorizing the dialogue.

At 10:00 suddenly (to me, since I hadn't known in advance) 태환 Taehwan said "come on, everyone, we have to go to the big 뒤풀이 duipuli now." When I arrived at the main practice hall I was incredibly surprised to see two huge containers of 막걸리 makgeolli bought directly from the maker, each holding about four gallons of makgeolli. There was this much to drink and it had to be drunk almost immediately (as it hadn't been in any way treated to keep and we don't have giant refrigerators that would accommodate it anyway) despite the fact that some of the students didn't participate at all (from the Korea University of Arts and from entire other teams). Naturally what ensued were drinking games. The group I was in (the size was originally about 9 people but it expanded to around 11) played a game where two captains played rock paper scissors, each time they won they could choose someone for their team. After they had teams (uneven in size), the members of the teams played rock paper scissors against each other and the team that lost had to drink the entire pot of makgeolli in the middle of the group, the pots were about 3.5 quart pots, filled to perhaps the 3 quart level. Yes, I am saying that teams of four students (twice it was four) had to drink 3 quarts of alcohol as quickly as possible. Of course each time the teams had people who really couldn't drink (more than a tiny bit) so this meant that the people who could, or who liked makgeolli were drinking obscene amounts. We played four times and each time the other team lost, so I was never forced to slug any makgeolli. But it was really insane. They then proceeded to do another game which I didn't quite understand where the losers had to do couple shots (around each other's necks, not just linked arms, if it was a mixed gender couple) or exchange food (mouth to mouth if they were the same gender). I had to do one couple shot but used my seniority to assert that I'd just do a linked arm shot. As I was sitting there 범성 Beomseong came up to check on us, and he smelled like camp fire, which he explained was happening in a large tent outside. I immediately went to the tent, where I found 대천 Daecheon, another instructor whose name I don't know, a woman (민정?) who I met at the Mask Dance Festival and a guy who hangs around a lot but I'm not sure what his capacity is. They had a grill and two heaters inside the tent, which was partially open on one side. I sat there with them and one other KNUA student (준영 Junyeong), and had a bit more makgeolli while having some more advanced conversation.

Goseong Ogwangdae Mask Dance Intensive- Basic Motions

January 17th, 2011
It was hard to sleep, since the heater apparently will only get our room just so warm. With two blankets –and- the small blanket I brought from Seoul with long underwear, a shirt, tank top AND hat on, I was able to sleep reasonably well. The room had heated up to 12 degrees (c.) by the morning. Around 18-20 would be my choice, and many people keep their houses or offices around 25. Thanks be it's warmer here than in Seoul.

All day on Monday I was one of the three cooks, together with 정운 Jeong-un and 태환 Taehwan. For breakfast we made fermented bean paste soup with tofu and veggies with egg rolls, for lunch we made kimchi stew (with tuna) and for dinner mandu stew (I ate leftover bean paste soup instead). We were also the clean-up crew. With other groups I observed a rotation per meal as the regular state of affairs, but this group didn't see that as necessary, and I have to admit I like the fact that I'm done with my tasks in terms of food and clean up (unless I want) until next Monday.

We had a meeting first thing in the morning with each group giving a brief introduction, 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk led a brief opening ceremony followed by an address by 이윤석 Yi Yunseok, the National Human Treasure for the group. The various groups were ordered to sing or otherwise entertain us, and one of the KNUA members sang a section from 적벽가 Jeokbyeokga, one of the five extant 판소리 pansori epics, he did a good job. The other presentations were not connected to traditions, however. Then the group was roughly divided into two parts and ordered to do the entire basic motion set. Because of practicing at 봉천놀이마당 Bongcheon Noli Madang, if I have someone to follow along with, then I don't have a problem. However, ironically the group I was part of (the second group) had not one student who had successfully memorized the basic motions (or who still remembered them). It was ridiculous and embarrassing for the arts university—on the other hand as I told several people last night, they are not mask dance majors, or all but one of them are not. The one who is a major is the other mask dance major besides 원중 Wonjung to get entry to the university this year. She started 강령탈춤 Gangnyeong Talchum when she was in third grade, although she hastened to assure me that she had several significant periods where she wasn't participating.

After the first run through disaster everyone followed along while Yi Yunseok explained (a lot) and had us follow his motions (a little). Yi's very amusing—he used to frighten me, he's silver haired and dignified seeming and he barks (unexpectedly and not connected to anger). Throughout the day he had three primary things that he kept yelling and making us repeat:
베기 : 귀신을 베는 사위 -- be-gi : which could be interpreted as getting rid of ghosts or malevolent spirits, but he explained that in the modern world it refers to any sort of thing you need to get rid of, not just ghosts.
으시개 : 어깨를 들썩들썩 움직임 eushigae: a sort of up and down shrugging type motion with the shoulders—motion of the shoulders is essential to proper performance of 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae
배김새 : 마음을 한곳으로 모아서 떨처내는 사위 baegimsae: the name of this one type of motion that occurs in the mask dance in several different times where you slap your hands onto your knees, it's a very distinctive motion from the mask dance drama
He also barked a lot of other random things, and both students and the crew of 이수자/ 전수자 isuja and jeonsuja (third and fourth ranked in the preservation association) admitted they often cannot understand him. If one looks past the barking, however, it's obvious that he's a sweetheart and just quite unusual in his manner of speech. After Yi explained 도수 Dongsu, one of the isuja, led us through the earliest motions in the set of basic motions.

Next was lunch. I explained the menu above, but annoyingly we were out of rice, we didn't have enough for everyone's meal, and I was actually only about half full after eating. Which was really sad because the kimchi stew (I cooked it) was really awesome. Everyone else thought so, too. The reason for the rice issue is that on Saturday one of the students sent 20 kg of rice by delivery service, but it hasn't arrived yet. A lot of our food is arriving by delivery from parents. Giant batches of various side dishes have already appeared. However, in my experience, it would not be a real intensive camp experience without some sort of problems with the food!

The afternoon was exactly the same—first some students had to sing or what not, then Yi teaching us with a lot of talking (and occasional barks) and then Dongsu teaching us with much less talking and a lot more just repeat and repeat of the motions. At 4:30 we had a yoga class for an hour. It was really funny because they said yoga, and leisure in Korean is 여가 yeoga, which sounds almost the same as 요가 yoga. So I kept thinking that at 4:30 we'd be left to our leisure. At any rate, the yoga teacher was a long haired gentleman in his early 50s who was slightly more flexible than me! I liked the class. Believe it or not, my first ever yoga class (I've only taken pilates once, in case you were wondering).

After dinner we went back for more class, although first I stopped in 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk's office and did a 10 minute internet check and a 20 minute explanation to 허창열 Heo Changyeol, an isuja, how he could structure his master's thesis. He's very much in an MFA type program where his activities have been just that, activities, with very little writing, so he's a bit intimidated by the thesis and has already put of graduation because he can't figure out quite what to do. He explained what he wanted to write about and I helped him outline how he could make that topic into both something that was academic and that was long enough to get him the diploma. It was actually a fun conversation. Besides, I really like Changyeol. I immediately found he was a sort of kindred spirit from the first time I talked with him. After I joined the group upstairs I found that Dongsu had returned to continue teaching the next part of the basic motion set. After he finished teaching I stayed with 진규 Jin'gyu, the most senior of the KNUA students at 30 (Korean age), he is a recent graduate. He knows Goseong Ogwangdae the best out of the students, so we practiced together with some of the other people including the women who work for Noridan, a social enterprise that has a performing arts division (they aren't performers, though). The leader of their group of three is the best mask dancer amongst every student of the classes this week. Her motions are really awesome. Honestly I thought that Jin'gyu shouldn't have been trying to teach her, but I think he felt as a man or an arts budding-professional a desire to assert his knowledge. Or maybe he just hadn't noticed she was the only person clearly better than him.

I thought it was going to be a really early night with sleep catch up for me, but then around 11 or a little after Changyeol, 김성범 Kim Seongbeom (isuja), 안대천 An Daecheon (isuja) and another guy who I think is also a jeonsuja showed up at our accommodations and I ended up sitting with them and drinking some 막걸리 makgeolli. Changyeol is one year younger than the group that includes Daecheon and Seongbeom. I've met all of them before through performances and various events but this is the first time I've had a chance to get to know them. Last time I had training at Goseong Ogwangdae there weren't any of the younger isuja and jeonsuja around with the exception of Dongsu. I will find out more about why they're around now (I suspect a connection to the KNUA students, since Daecheon and Changyeol are KNUA grad students who already finished the bachelor's program these students are in). I also hope to interview all of them. The conversation over drinks was wide ranging but mostly irreverent and funny coupled with too much discussion of military service (the others at the table were all men, since most are mid to late twenties, military service is still a hot topic.

Part of the view on the commute from where we stayed to the training hall:

Jeon Gwangyeol (instructor for Malddugi and generally for blocking Act 2):

Interesting Face (another team, never caught his name):