Practicing by the Ocean

January 26th, 2010
I forgot to mention that last night the instructors told the KNUA students which parts they were doing, more or less, for the performance in April. In some cases they are still deciding between two or even three people, but they told each who needed to practice for which role (although sometimes it's more than one person). For example, 윤만 Yunman has to practice the monk's dance, and 인선 Inseon will not be the old wife, but probably 준영 Junyeong. Which I completely approve of, because it really is a funnier scene when a man plays the role. 민기 Min'gi will probably still do Malddugi.

I decided to do 말뚝이 Malddugi for my individual dance this time, instead of the monk's dance. I wanted to observe (and video-tape) a different teacher's style of teaching, for one thing, but then the normal teacher didn't show up, and instead we had the assistant (in this case 대천 Daecheon). And then the video-camera ran out of batteries after thirty minutes. I have no idea why, I plugged it in yesterday and it was charging, perhaps it was knocked out of the socket a little during the charging process. Such are the snags in my research, and if that's all they are, no sweat. The dance itself is highly energetic, the most energetic of the lead characters in 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae. Malddugi leaps and spins a lot.

After lunch we met Daecheon again, but this time, it was so amazing I won't be able to put it into words—he took us to the ocean and we danced there. Mind you, I'm from an island. I am definitely happiest next to the ocean. We first checked out this hillside park (on a jutting point) where we took photos and these awesome grandmothers shared dried persimmons with us. (The response from one of the other recipients was "Wow, I love Goseong."), then although I had thought Daecheon was kidding, we really did practice on this quay, concrete jutting into the ocean with islands in the distance and sun glittering on the waves. It was cold and there was a light breeze, but it was absolutely invigorating and beautiful.





After we learned the entire dance (not that I remember it, it's really confusing and I'm not used to manipulating the horse-whip which is Malddugi's main prop, yet) we went to the traditional market and I treated everyone to mini-bananas and Daecheon bought us all snacks from the snack stall (순대 stuffed intestine, 오뎅 fish/flour cakes boiled in broth, and deep fried battered veggies and squid). Everyone bonded and decided it was really awesome to be the Malddugi team. On the way back to the van I bought a box of oranges (which Min'gi helpfully carried) for the KNUA students.





During the afternoon I got a series of phone calls from SBS. This was not the same team at SBS who has been talking to me about potentially coming to 임실필봉 Imshil Pilbong training center in two weeks, this was a team who had interviewed me in Andong in the fall. They decided they wanted to come here, talked to the office, and will be here tomorrow. I guess I should figure out what I want to wear, but considering how little I have with me, there are few choices.

After we were back at the training center I tried to find some instructor to interview but everyone was busy teaching the music for Goseong Ogwangdae classes (which I had decided not to do), so I ended up taking a photographic walk on the hill covered with tombs above the Mask Dance Museum and training center. I got good shots of the tall dead grasses in the late late afternoon sun.



After dinner (which was really good) I went to practice Malddugi's dance, especially since SBS is coming to film me tomorrow, which makes me nervous and liable to make more mistakes than normal. Min'gi helped a lot, since he performed part last week, he really has it down, or at least the order of the motions. We practiced for more than two hours, totally sweating, before we called it quits. 전광일 Jeon Gwangil bought ice cream for everyone (of course I didn't eat it, but it was sweet).

성범 Seongbeom has to go back to Seoul, so he came to say goodbye to the students and have a last drink together. He's a pretty serious guy, however, and he ended up sort of chiding the students, first of all because they keep not saying anything about the problems we’ve had with the boiler and it's always me who's saying something. Then he went off about certain people who've skipped classes (sickness or because of drinking and 정우 Jeong-u even had to miss the performance last week to go to a friend's wedding, which he missed because he left too late. At any rate, he did point out (as he said in his interview to me) that they don't actually dance that well, and they're beginning professionals, so they certainly should do better. I love his honesty, and it's good for the students, but it's hard to hear, too. At about the time he was leaving 창열 Changyeol appeared, in high spirits and at least half drunk. He proceeded to drink with the students who had the stamina to stay awake until 4 or so in the morning. I went down at 2, but it was a really bad night of sleep with very drunk people coming in and out, cooking and receiving phone calls (all night phones were ringing, I swear).

Korea Loses to Japan (and we weep)

January 25th, 2010
In the morning it was almost impossible to wake people up. I let 기영 Gi-yeong who had been drinking the night before but was on my cooking crew sleep, and used 태환 Taehwan to do a few things (and wash dishes from the night's party) while I made bean paste stew and a large salad. When it was time to eat I had to start yanking blankets off people, and even that didn't get everyone to the table. One, 윤만 Yunman, basically slept all day. He claims it's also because he's sick, but I'd say the only sickness is due to over drinking, because he wasn't one of the sick-ish people yesterday. And if you were under the weather, you wouldn't stay up till 3 or 4 drinking.

Before practice started there were nine presentations:
1. A member of the theatre company sang (very well, traditional)
2. the five students from Jinju University of Education had prepared a mini-play, all choreographed. It was very funny
3. The drama people interviewed 이윤석 Yi Yunseok (the National Human Treasure), the funniest thing was the opening question "When did you first fall in love?" which he side-stepped with "when I was with the girl I first kissed." The interviewer used drum stick for a 징 jing, while the other member of the team pretended to wield a video camera.
4. Another theatre company member sang 판소리 pansori (but not the same person who sang pansori on Monday). 영호 Yeongho accompanied on the 장구 janggu. Almost all the songs are accompanied by the drumming of the teachers.
5. 정운 Jeong'un sang a funny (non-traditional) song
6. The students from Gyeongsang University sang a cute little song with a bit of choreography, but the only guy in the group didn't know either, so then he was told to do it on his own, which he couldn't.
7. This guy who is from 봉천놀이마당 Bongcheong Noli Madang (so is another woman who I think is his girlfriend) sang a song, but at first he couldn't remember it. He was good once he got going.
8. "The Gwangdae" leader 안대천 An Daecheon was forced to sing for the group. He sang the song in the character of a grandmother from 제주 Jeju Island.
9. Finally 성범 Seongbeom (who always runs these things) get 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk in the hotseat. He tries to leave the room, but is forced to sing.


Morning practice wrapped up the entire basic motion set, at lunch time we made vegetable fried rice and served it with left over soup. All this cooking was making it hard for me to find time to do interviews, although while preparing dinner (kimchi stew and 감자전potato jeon) I multi-tasked and interviewed Gi-yeong at the same time (I had her talk and I cut and chopped and washed and stirred). I'm glad that my cooking is done till Saturday breakfast.



Afternoon practice was 덧뷔기춤 deotbuigi chum and then our big group test to see if we'd mastered everything. I videotaped the session and I felt like I did a great job at the dance. I think I finally do have the entire basic motion set (and deotbuigi) memorized, although I haven't taken the time to do it on my own to check. The group dancing was a huge high, everyone was sweating and waving their hands in the air at the end as even Yi Yunseok joined us in celebration.

After dinner we all practiced again, reveling in our ability to perform the motions, as yet untroubled by the struggle to memorize the 개인무 gae-in mu that we would face the next day. I interviewed 김성범 Kim Seongbeom and later conducted a partial interview with 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk which was very difficult because of his extensive use of regional dialect and extremely fast speech (Seongbeom also talks very quickly but because he uses standard Korean I could follow along without any difficulty). In fact, I am usually not troubled by dialect in the경상 Gyeongsang region, since I lived in Daegu for more than seven years, but Hwang is really extreme, and not just in accent and verb endings (which I understand and even speak with) but also in the use of dialectical alternative vocabulary, which I often don't know, or cannot remember. At any rate Hwang (and I) were freezing, so we'll continue the interview later.

Back at our place the Korea-Japan semifinal (Asian Cup) game was on, which tragically despite a goal in the 15th minute of the 15 minute overtime (tying the match) we did not win because the shootout went horribly wrong. The students and a few from the drama troupe and the two from Bongcheon Noli Madang all sat and drank beer and ate fried chicken through the game. Not long after (but well past 1 a.m.) I decided to go to sleep. All the rooms were frozen, the floor never heated up in any location during the night.

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.

Back to Goseong

January 23rd, 2010
I woke up at Georgy and 진홍Jinhong's house and made Georgy pancakes (Jinhong had already left to help his parents in the run up to the big 설날 Seollal holiday, since their shop makes traditional foods that are widely consumed at the holiday). Before leaving I had lunch, too, which was really only a couple hours after breakfast.

My timing was good for the bus back to 고성 Goseong (a two hour trip, as the bus stops at other towns on the way) and I arrived before the group took off to see the ocean. I rode in the van with 창열 Changyeol. He's still a little under the weather. It's exhausting to run these camps (or participate) since it means being on the clock from 8 or so in the morning until 2 or after in the morning day after day. During the day off, they weren't exactly idle. 성범 Seongbeom had to drive to 부산 Busan to get more supplies needed by the training center, for example. It was getting dark, but we drove along the long inlet until we finally got near the edge of the sea. We stopped one time to play on the rocks next to the ocean, and in a little town we bought snacks and instant noodles which were consumed on a quay as a bitter wind whipped up. They'd also bought a few bottles of soju which they quickly consumed.

At 8, just a little after we returned, we met up with all the other students for the week and everyone introduced themselves. Almost all the new students are women, there were only two men. About twenty of the new students are a single theatre group who has all come here together. That's interesting.

I spent a bit of time on the computer and then hung out with the lower level instructors who were in the tent, but not grilling meat. 영호 Yeongho, who I have also met before and is another of these guys that's one year above Changyeol, has returned to Goseong for the week (with his wife and 20 month old daughter). 대천 Daecheon's wife and daughter also appeared, I can only presume the three plus two infants drove down together. Yeongho said something about driving the entire time.

At our "home" the floor of the women's room refused to heat up, and finally it was decided that everyone would sleep in the same room, the men's room, so we all had a lot less elbow/knee room for the night. I lucked out, even though I wasn't the first one going to sleep, and managed to get one of the four corners. The floor in that room was so hot, it was almost hard to sleep. If I'd ever woken up fully during the night I would have moved my blankets under me to insulate me.

Performance for Week 1

January 22nd, 2010
I woke up extra early and made pancakes for everyone. There was also kimchi stew that 민기 Min'gi made, so some people ate a lot of pancakes and some just had a taste while sticking to more conventional Korean food. The pancakes were so popular that Min'gi even wrote down complete recipe and directions while others paid attention and seemed to be trying to just memorize it (it's easy, really, since it's 1 cup of (soy) milk, to 1 egg, to one cup of flour, plus baking soda and vinegar, stir and fry).

Before the performances began we had a 고사 gosa ceremony to bless the masks and the performers and performance space. 이재훈 Yi Jaehun, one of the jeonsugyoyuk jogyo (2nd ranked) oversaw the preparations and lectured the students on how to perform the ceremony properly. He is a total character, and normally dances the part of the old wife. The altar was set up at one end of the room with fruit, dried fish, snacks, candles, etc. on it (no boiled pig's head which would be a lot of expense for just a student performance without much of an audience). The officiants were talked through the ceremony (pouring 막걸리 makgeolli, lighting incense, reading an address, etc.) by Yi and the rest of the group (all lined up facing the altar in white 민복 minbok (peasant garb which is worn under costumes for things like mask dance drama performances) bowed (head to the floorboards) when we were told to bow.

The mixed team performed first. There were a few snafus, but it wasn't bad at all, some of the scenes were quite good. I did notice, however, that the detailed explanation of how to act the part of the old wife that I had heard being given only to the KNUA old wife (인선 Inseon) by 김동수 Kim Dongsu the previous night, had definitely not been given to the mixed team old wife at some other time. Then the KNUA team performed, by the time they started even more of the teachers had arrived, at the high point there were perhaps 10 teachers in the room, although they also wandered back out during the performance so that the final act had less teachers than the third act did. It was well done, better by far than the mixed team. Large differences between the two teams included the fact that 경진 Gyeongjin had performed the monk's dance (originally it was supposed to be 가은 Ga'eun but she's rather short and the really long sleeves of the costume were dragging on the floor even when she held her arms straight out from her shoulders to the side, she claimed that she wasn't disappointed not to do it, though. Gyeongjin is an excellent dancer, she did a great job. The Bibi scene was also much better in terms of use of the environment- they didn't just run around in circles within the space allotted- the 양반 yangban character at one point hit behind me, for example. And I already mentioned that Inseon got special training on dialogue delivery for the old wife, and she did a good job utilizing what she'd been taught, a lot of which was to vary ways that repetitive things are said. Variation in delivery and variation in certain gestures allowed her character to come alive to a greater degree. The first and second scene, however, seemed to be about of equivalent caliber, especially the first scene which was performed by the 27 year-old office worker who had practiced Goseong Ogwangdae since she was in college and had been to the training center four or more times before.







Gosa Ceremony:

Mundung:

Bibi:

Monk:

Old Wife:

Group

After the performances ended there was a short ceremony with a speech by Yi Yunseok, then I directly walked to the bus station and left for 대구 Daegu. In Daegu I was able to relax with Georgy, eating a delicious dinner, talking a lot, washing every stitch of clothes I was wearing and so on.

Last Day of Rehearsals for Week 1

January 21st, 2011
In the morning people had a harder time than even before getting up, but some had to be in class even earlier than usual because of teacher availability. So they ended up eating breakfast after their rehearsal. I went over with the main group after breakfast and took video of the entire morning rehearsal which was when the teachers taught the blocking for the stage and how to interact with each other properly. Next week the KNUA students will need a different type of direction than they got today, so next week I'll probably only record them instead of both teams. At the end of the morning class the 승무 monk's dance group had to run through once, and I acquitted myself well. The best thing was that I had entire chunk (like a 30+ page chunk) of my dissertation arrive in my head totally planned out and everything. So excited! I love breakthroughs. Of course I still have work to do, including interviews and observation, and then there is the writing process, but I'm still really happy. Because I want my dissertation to not just be well researched, I also want it to be interesting to read, with engaging stand-alone sections.



Hwang Jong'uk:


After lunch there was more run through, except it was more about getting Act 1 off the stage, then Act 2 on properly and things like that, so the two complete performances wouldn't run on for hours. After rehearsal ended I skipped the late afternoon class (on drumming for the mask dance) and walked to town, where I bought everything to make pancakes for the students and a lot of fresh ginger, which I brewed into ginger tea for the people on the edge of getting sick. Actually 희수 Heesu seems to be full on sick, not on the edge. And I ordered창열 Changyeol to drop by for tea, too.


Daecheon (instructor for Malddugi):

Yi Jaehun (instructor for Act 5, especially the Old Wife)

Changyeol (instructor for Mundung Bukchum and Deotbuigi):




In the evening I talked to Karjam on Skype (he's doing very well) and watched the groups rehearsing (obviously quite nervous in some cases). Changyeol and I talked about next week, apparently 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk, 안대천 An Daecheon and Changyeol will choose who should be which part for April and they will focus on that part for the next week.

After awhile I retired to the tent outside the main building where the lower level assistant instructors hang out (uhhh, guys, it's below freezing). The tent is huge, so we all sit around a grill on chairs with some heaters in the tent, too (but doors open on both sides), and they drink (but not 막걸리 makgeolli which they claim leaves too much of a hangover) and grill meat non-stop, just more and more meat. However there were also two squid and a bunch of oysters to eat last night, as well. The tent also has a zipped off bedroom area (large enough for sleeping four at least). As usual after hanging out in the tent, I smelled like smoke afterwards.

I intended to go to sleep early, but all the KNUA kids not drinking with the students from the other schools were playing cards and laughing and talking in the women's bedroom. Finally I fell asleep listening to them talk. I didn't mind that they were being noisy, they're such a sweet bunch of kids. Seriously, awesome.

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 Continued

January 18th, 2011
I had a hard time waking up, but was still probably only the third person moving around. Every break time- like after meals- at least half the students take a nap. Breakfast had meat, so I couldn't eat it, and late lunch did, too (partially because lunch recycled part of breakfast), so I ended up going out to lunch by myself (at breakfast time I ate a carrot, rice and one of the two side dishes).

I video-taped the entire morning class, which was more of 이윤석 Yi Yunseok, the National Human Treasure for over an hour, then Changyeol worked with us on our motions, including reviewing everything carefully. At that point we'd learned all the way to the end of the basic motion set. Therefore after lunch we learned 덧뷔기춤 deotbuigi chum (deotbuigi dance). It's a really fun set of motions, fast moving, too. Yi taught it to us and then we worked on it was Changyeol as well, although Seongbeom couldn't keep from interjecting (since the dance is so fast paced and the leader is calling out directions and explanations and the count, causing Changyeol to work up a good sweat, it looked like he appreciated the rest). Then we were told the group would be divided again (there were 42 people there, we counted off and the odds and evens split into two teams) and we'd each group perform deotbuigi chum and the basic motion set. Yi was insistent that we had to work as one, a theme he was on all day. In the morning he would hit one student (진규 Jin'gyu) and then we were all supposed to say "ow" or fall over when he fell over and stand up when he stood up, etc. We were very strongly told to abandon or ideas of being from particular schools or clubs and just cooperate and perform with one mind. So the odds performed, then the evens, then we all danced together with a great release of 신명 shinmyeong. It was pretty awesome, everyone got heated up and even sweaty, and afterwards I for one was super high on the rush of the group energy.

After a short break we divided into a 꽹과리 ggwaenggwari and a 장구 janggu group and learned at least something about accompanying Goseong Ogwangdae and the rhythms that usually accompanied it. I took the janggu class, which was taught by Dongsu. At the end of the class I ran out and Changyeol drove me to the bus station so that I could go back to Seoul and see the stupid doctor who insisted that only Wednesday and only that particular time (2:30 pm) which means that I am losing basically an entire day of class at Goseong (since the bus takes over 4 hours to Seoul, if I left tomorrow morning the only advantage would be to have practice this evening but I'd miss advantages like sleeping in and changing my clothes and I'd basically spend the entire day on the bus. As this is, I hope to make it back for evening practice on Wednesday.

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):

My Birthday (Start of the Goseong Ogwangdae Intensive)

January 16th, 2010 -- My Birthday
I made a big breakfast trying to use up a lot of food in the house, then hurried in the freezing cold to the Korea National University of Arts to meet up with the students there who were going to 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae's training center for a two week intensive. I'm a temporary member of their group (you have to be part of some group or other as there is no way to be here on your own). We took a bus provided by their school to 고성 Goseong. Students from clubs pay their own way, but since the students in the KNUA Department of Traditional Performing Arts are all in one of three mask dance intensives right now, the school I guess felt responsible for the cost to the students.

I am doubly lucky to be with the KNUA students, because not only will it be great for my research to talk with students who think more deeply about traditional arts, but also the students were given the opportunity to stay in the newly organized and much superior facilities in the Mask Dance Museum, where there is an actual kitchen with running water, and the rooms are newer and nicer by far. It remains to be seen if they will heat up, however. At the time that I am writing this the heater has been on for hours and hours and it's still incredibly cold. Perhaps the pipes heating the floor are partially frozen?

I took a long walk, stopping at the store and buying a few things both for me and for the group, and then walked back to the training center, we had a quick meeting at 5:00 and then after a dinner that we prepared (of instant noodles) we had 뒤풀이 duipuli together with the students from the other schools, 경상대 Gyeongsang University, 고려대 Korea University and 중앙대 Jungang University. There are also four others like me that aren't university students but have joined on. This was actually pretty fun, talking and laughing together, the KNUA students think of themselves as vastly superior to the non-traditional arts majors, but the reality is that the KNUA students are almost all 풍물 pungmul majors, with only one mask dance major, and they don't really enjoy mask dance that much, they're just preparing for their big performance in April because they have to. Whereas the other students do this because they really enjoy what they're doing. I especially got that sense from the independents, the Jungang and the Korea University students.

I found that 황종욱 Hwang Jong'uk, the manager of the preservation association for Goseong Ogwangdae, has wireless internet and he allowed me to sit in his warm office and prepare this.

I went for a walk (okay, and I screwed around with the photos on the computer, too):

Taking Care of Business

January 15th, 2010
Took care of stuff, winding up the previous intensive and getting ready for the next one in Seoul. Because she's really awesome, my friend 경진 Gyeongjin came and bought me cake and really awesome tea at Lazy Sue's for my birthday (the 16th). It was -20 Celsius (-15 F) in Seoul with wind chill.

The Day I Perform Sangmo in the Snow

January 14th, 2010 Two Days Before my Birthday (Phone calls and emails welcome because I'll be hanging out with a bunch of people who've never met me before, and I like b-day acknowledgement)

Woke up, ate breakfast, had morning class. The class went very well, although 수희 Suhee talked a lot, it was interesting and I learned a lot and remembered to record a fair amount of what she said with my voice recorder. One of the recently arrived 개전연 Gaejeonyeon people, 우현택 U Hyeon-taek, is a Korean traditional dance major. He was urged to stand up and give a small presentation. Part of the discussion after class ended was on the ways to evaluate different 장구 janggu. Basically, the more lines of the tree on the janggu the older it is, the slower growing, the better the wood, the better the sound. There are sizes to janggu, you should match it to your own size. 영록 Yeongnok, who is broad shouldered and nearing 6 feet tall, uses an 8. Usually if you're sitting to play you want a slightly larger one than if you play 풍물 pungmul a lot (since pungmul is properly played while dancing/marching around). A half size difference is about normal. Suhee, who is quite petite, uses a 6 for pungmul.

Lunch (totally meat, I barely ate anything but rice and the soup, which was thin black sesame gruel). Then I interviewed Janghyeok. Which was interesting, because I rarely can talk with anyone except people like 이종휘 Yi Jonghui and 김은주 Kim Eunju and 김영숙 Kim Yeongsuk about arts politics, unless I've made a special interview appointment to interview someone. It's been awhile since I had a discussion with someone new about this stuff and his age, well, it was just a very refreshing conversation.

At 2 the performers assembled in our practice room and talked about the performance and prepared ourselves. If the 상모 sangmo is loose on my head, it's hard to spin, avoiding that I erred on the side of so tight after awhile I thought I was cutting off circulation to my brain. Seriously, it was painful. We started playing around 2:40. It was two 북 buk, one 징 jing, two 장구 janggu, and two 꽹과리 gwaenggwari with two 소고 sogo dancers, two sangmo and sogo dancers (obviously one of those was me) and three elementary school children also on sangmo and sogo. Plus three people doing 잡색 japsaek, the characters who dance around in the performance. We started playing and then 국진 Geukjin, who was the 상쇠 sangsoi (lead gwaenggwari player who leads the whole group) led us onto the snow, which we were packing into sludgy ice with our steps. I was trying to spin my sangmo and my feet were slipping sideways at the same time. And my shoes didn't feel thick enough for dancing on snow/ice. After too long there, we moved, and paused at another spot, then we moved again in between the old traditional buildings where the instructors live. We re-enacted the ceremony at 대보름 Daeboreum (first full moon of the lunar new year) where you dance to someone's house and bless them and get fed and liquored up in return. Suhee and 원로 Wonno acted the part of the householders. We danced there and got fed a bit and some people drank soju, then I finally took off my sangmo (blessed relief) and packed it up to leave. We ended playing at 4:45 and Geukjin drove me to town, where I caught the bus to Jeonju.




In Jeonju I ate dinner and had tea with Bonnie, a friend from the US who is also in Korea on a Fulbright-Hays, and 김월덕 Kim Woldeok, one of my two closest Korean girlfriends. It was such a wonderful break from food at the training center.

Caught the bus to Seoul, the bus had internet! Man I love Korea.