The Gwangdae Performance and Buddha's Birthday

May 8^th, 2011

Had a meeting of our dissertation support group with Jenny, Bonnie and Shannon – we brainstormed and gave feedback on writing we had shared—beyond awesome.

In the early evening we watched a performance by 더 광대 The Gwangdae at 광화문 Gwanghwamun. That's Changyeol, Daecheon, Yeongho etc.'s group. It was quite unexpected. I mean, I thought I knew the direction they were heading with this performance, more towards mask dance drama, but clearly I was mistaken. In the performance everyone is under the thrall of the business world until 이매 Imae (from 하회별신굿탈놀이 Hahoi Byeolshin'gut Talnoli) comes along to wake them up to fun. They turn into squid, then get hooked on religion (literally, but a fisherman with a giant lure and hooks with each religion's symbols on them). Uh? I need to talk to Changyeol some more about it.

After the show Karjam and I went to dinner with Sejeong.

May 9^th, 2011

I stayed home and worked on the computer

May 10^th, 2011

It was Buddha's Birthday in Korea so I dragged Karjam (who wanted to stay home and keep preparing to record his CD) out of the house. We went to 봉원사 Bongwon Temple, one of my favorites, the head temple of the Taego Order (태고종) and it was a very sweet scene there. Busy and bustling, but we went into each of the halls, did our bows (I did my long series of bows in the 대웅전), offered donations, lit incense, etc. It felt really awesome. Then I went to 조계사 Jogye Temple, the head temple of the 조계종 and I should have known better. It was a mad house. And muddy. And full of people shaking donation boxes and there was a guy on a loud speaker who was –not- chanting. Everyone had cameras out, tons of tourists and there was a LONG line to even get into the hall to do bows. We got out of there pretty fast. I hate seeing Buddhism demeaned in that sort of way. I guess it's a bit like the Catholics who don't want the Christmas and Easter people crowding them out. But at least people aren't standing on stools to take photos of you when you want do what Catholics do in the cathedral (is there communion on those big holiday days?)

K-Pop Releases from Mid-May

2NE1, my favorite "idol" group has a new song out, "Lonely."  Honestly, I'm disappointed. The song is well sung, the video is not bad (a bit boring), so why am I disappointed? Because it's a freaking ballad! I like 2NE1 because they're ballsy and brash and loud and sing music with an awesome dance beat. This is a –good- ballad but it's still a ballad. Please let the next release be an awesome dance track!

5 Dolls have released a new song, "Like This or Like That 이러쿵 저러쿵." Thankfully this is dance track. A bit cutesy and I wish any of them evidenced some singing chops, like real lungs, you know what I mean, but it's fun. I like the shorts and leggings combination especially because the one girl has nice bright orange leggings. I'm a little disturbed by a few of the motions with the tiny high school uniforms on, as I just don't like that sexualization of youth images and think those sort of motions just shouldn't be associated with high school. But really, it's a cute song.

 

Jay Park (former 2PM front man) released "Tonight" this week. The video is a bit poppy but the dance in it is really excellent, so I forgive Jay for the total sunny smile of the entire package. I mean this video is about being sweet and young and innocent in clothes that cover your whole body with no sexual moves at all—it's so "wholesome" it could be a Christian pop song.

 

Sistar 19 (half of Sistar) released a pop song, "Ma Boy"  it's a bit syrupy for me with lyrics that are pretty darn dumb—it's clear people only watch Sistar for their look. They're not even particularly good dancers.

 

Miss A is back with a new song "Love Alone."   I like the group but the song is a bit boring and the video just shows them preparing to and going on stage (not in linear order) and the 

angle on the stage isn't even that good.

 Heo Yeongsaeng has a good song out with Hyun-A of 4 Minute featured. The song, "Let it Go" is pretty danceable, but Yeongsaeng could look better than he does and the music is a little predictable, it could be a cleaner audio track with some of the extra tracks deleted.

 

But the best new MV out there? Untouchable featuring Oh Jinseok, "You You"  is a totally fun track from the moment it starts. The wide angle videography is awesome, too. And they're so funny looking, esp. the guy with the 'stache.

K-Arts Students Perform Goseong Ogwangdae

May 7^th, 2011

Finally the day for the K-Arts students to perform 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae arrived. I ordered 15 bouquets of flowers from the florist and picked them up on my way to the show. Because rain had been projected (although then the weather was gorgeous after all), the show had been moved inside, which I am sure was better for attendance. I got special permission to video tape the show, but left the video camera on at the back of the room sitting up front next to 태환 Taehwan's two sisters who said they'd never seen him perform before. It was a little intimidating to be exactly one row in front of the seats reserved for 이윤석 Yi Yunseok (Goseong Ogwangdae national human treasure) and other Goseong Ogwangdae people and K-Arts faculty. 이재훈 Yi Jaehun, the sweet long-haired jeonsu gyoyuk jogyo who normally performs the old wife was there, as was 김성범 Kim Seongbeom, but Daecheon and Changyeol were absent as they had a performance starting at 6 pm at 광화문 Gwanghwamun—quite a distance from K-Arts campus.

The performance was better than I had expected, especially since I'd been pretty sorely disappointed by the students in the Bongsan Talchum group two days previously. The students did have one advantage compared to the Bongsan Talchum students: the mask dance drama is much shorter. Even with a substantial pungmul section at the beginning of the piece (even including some 남사당 namsadang tricks), the performance only took two hours. The students made no perceptible mistakes and some of them were very good. 재윤, 혜미 and 민지 drummed the whole time, which I think was unfortunate. It would have been better if they had been able to do some dancing, too. Personally I was quite impressed by 정우, I think he improved a lot, and 윤만 also really ate up the scene compared to what I had expected. One of the neatest things was how they bowed. They all ran forward in the groups of the soloists from the final act forward, so that for the final act the old wife, young wife (concubine) and old husband bowed, each now in their plain white minbok, but through using a bit of the mannerisms of their character they made it clear to the audience who had just been wearing which mask. It was really cool.

After the show I went to a 막걸리 makgeolli house with the senior K-Arts students and Yi Yunseok, Yi Jaehun, Professor Choi Changju and so on. Eventually the students showed up. After some warm and congratulatory speeches before toasts I left. 

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. 

Jongmyo Daeje

May 1^st, 2011

The big event for the day was the 종묘대제 Jongmyo Daeje ceremony. This ceremony is a Confucian ancestral right practiced by the Yi family (of the lineage of the kings of the Joseon Dynasty). In addition to being a giant spectacle with costumed Yi-descended men, musicians and dancers, it is also Intangible Cultural Asset #1 (the numbers are based on what got listed first), a group art, and therefore somewhat within my broad over-arching research into transmission in group arts. In fact this ceremony includes several very different lines of transmission: Jongmyo Jeraeak is the music of the ceremony- particularly special in that it is played on two orchestras in  a configuration (and using instruments) that are unique to this ceremony. It is also Jongmyo Jerye or the ritual (including such skills as calligraphy and memorization of the order in which to offer various dishes and how they're arranged on the memorial table). Finally it includes a specific type of dance, or mumu. The ceremony began at 9:30. Karjam and I were in place, front row and took some photos. After becoming interested in another vantage point I managed to get invited into the press area and got excellent photos. The second part of the ceremony, at noon, was in a different courtyard, this time I managed to get us front row seats, and they were seats, not standing. When we got too hungry we left. Overall Karjam was very impressed and we both took a ton of photos (or in his case photos and video). 

Gaejeonyeon Performance

April 30^th, 2011

I had a performance with 개전연 (개인전수연합) Gaejeonyeon, my 임실필봉농악 Imshil Pilbong Nongak trained 풍물 pungmul group. The performance was in a sorry excuse for a park in 대학로 Daehangno (an area of Seoul). We met up at 11, changed, ate kimbap, etc. and then finally at 1 we started to play. I had told Karjam to come at 2 because we'd keep playing until 4, but he arrived at 2:30, about 10 minutes after it began to rain. Until the rain we'd been performing in the park proper, in various patterns with lots of room for the잡색 japsaek people to dance in the middle. I had thought of doing 상모 sangmo when we performed for all of 5 minutes, but I decided that with all the audience staring the white woman, I'd be more comfortable doing something I knew I could do well, and I dance well, so I was designated for the part of 화동 hwadong, a japsaek part that I think is pretty cool. After it began raining we performed under a roof that covered barely enough space for all of us (I never counted but approximately 40 performers) to get out of the rain. Our audience stood under umbrellas, mostly. 

Kim Yongcheol's Dance Performance

April 29^th, 2011

On Friday I went to meet Prof. Hilary Finchum-Sung for lunch and good solid academic discussion. She had tons of awesome advice to help me with nuts and bolts of this dissertation project. Actually some of it was being reminded of things I know but others were rather scary. They made me feel as though I have much more still to do than I thought I did and a bit of panic is setting in, particularly since what with mom here (and our packed schedule) and various other confluences of events (like the high concentration of performances in the spring) I have gotten very little writing done lately.

In the evening Karjam and I went to see 김용천 Kim Yongcheol (from my Bongsan Talchum class)'s dance performance. It was actually a concert with a total of 5 pieces—one Japanese, one Chinese and three Korean. The first Korean piece, the Japanese butoh piece and Yongcheol's piece were good, the other two were pretty lame. Yongcheol's piece has three primary dancers, 병호 and 정현 plus a guy I only met once. They were all in dresses, but 정현's character was still a male character. In addition there were about 9 other dancers, including Yongcheol, 산산, 윤희, and허세준. It was pretty amusing and I took a few photos though we were seated so far back in the hall I wished I'd had something other than my 50mm fixed lens. I'm spoiled by small halls like KOUS and Pungryu Geukjang. The dancers used 한삼 hansam (sleeve extensions) and some Bongsan Talchum motions, but it was far enough away from Bongsan Talchum that I think most people wouldn't have felt it was at all derivative. 

Yi Saenggang is the Best Daegeum Player in Korea

 April 28^th, 2011

So for mom's last day in Korea we stopped by the Seoul History Museum, which has an excellent exhibition right now of photos from a Czeck visitor to Korea who was here in 1901. That's all we had time to look at, although I was itching to show them the big diorama of Seoul. We had lunch, went home, took mom to the airport. It was sad to say good-bye, we had a great visit. I was only –much too snippy to be acceptable—once. That's like a record for me (not saying I wasn't mildly bitchy on other occasions but I only had to apologize once).

I went straight from the airport to the 중요무형문화재전수회관's 풍류극장 (the Pungryu Theatre at the Intangible Cultural Properties Training Center bldg) for the third installment in the series we also went to on Tuesday. This show I wanted to see because 이생강 Yi Saenggang, National Human Treasure for Daegeum Sanjo was playing. I love him! The other two featured performers were 정명숙 Jeong Myeongsuk who I've seen at KOUS and other locations quite a few times, she's a jeonsu gyoyuk jogyo for 살풀이 salpuli and 강정숙 Gang Jeongsuk, who I may never have seen before. She is a 가야금산조 및 병창 gayageum byeonchang National Human Treasure like Ahn Sukseon. The performance was very different from the performance on Tuesday. First of all it seemed that all three members were resistant to the talking that Ms. Oh wanted to see going on between numbers. However the show was almost fifty minutes longer- Gang played sanjo (in other words she only played and didn't sing) for a good twelve minutes or more, then also sang (pansori) quite a few numbers and Yi played four different types of flute (several numbers on most of them). It was really awesome. At the end Ms. Oh finally got Jeong to dance again (she protested "I thought I was only here to dance salpuri" but she did ipchum) and Yi accompanied her on the daegeum while two other musicians also played. Ms. Oh tried to get Gang to play or sing during this number and Gang refused to do either. I liked the show much more, and I also felt like I'd gotten my money's worth. The whole evening there were some very loud 추임새 chu'imsae people, including the guy one over from directly behind me. A lot of talk back in general. At the very end one of them insisted Ms. Oh sing. She sang about 40 seconds, but it was quite good. 

K-Pop Releases in late April

Rainbow is a group I've sincerely found little redeeming qualities in from their first release. The latest is "To Me" a song that has the advantage of a good strong dance beat. Unfortunately it still has the annoying girls of the group using English really awkwardly (seems to be a trademark) and generally just being a plastic cut-out concept of a money-making ensemble, instead of actual artists. (Yes, I'm being a bit harsh but even the dance to the best part of the song (the chorus) is just completely unimaginative).

A-Team released a new song "Run It."   The group must be new, can't remember hearing of them before. They're a group of apparently 7 rappers, they seem to have some serious talent (one is even a woman!) and a social conscience. In other words they probably won't be doing that well. Too bad. Give it a listen. The video is not worth much though, it's too artsy for focus, apparently.

제 블로그를 방문해 주셔서 고맙습니다. 저는 이 블로그에 일주일에 4번 정도 한국 전통 공연 문화에 대해 쓰고 있습니다. 처음에는  K-pop에 관심이 있으셔서  방문하셨겠지만 나가시기 전에 한국 전통 문화에 관한 것도 한번 봐 주시면 좋겠습니다.


NS Yunji has released a video in clay animation called "Talk Talk Talk."  The photo should let you know what the music sounds like. If you like that kind of thing, go for it.

San E, who had a first mini-album that I was completely impressed by (I thought he was super smart and funny and very good at rap), has released a crap-ass follow up. The song, 가면 안돼 (I Cannot Let You Go) , is a total freaking ballad with easy slow non-challenging rap about love (and loss). The reason that San E was impressive the first time was because he got away from that stereotypical trap of following what sells in Korean music, and here he is, smack dab in the middle of it.

After School has two new releases off their new CD "Virgin" (which has them in –red shoes- apparently Koreans don't know that that is a traditional sign of being a prostitute). Let's Step Up  is a tap piece. I don't quite get it, as in the clip that's online (which is a minute and a half long, much too long to be a teaser) the song definitely takes second seat to the tapping, which is pretty bad (except for one member).  The other song is called "Shampoo," no I don't think it sounds like a song name, either. Unless it's for an advert, of course. They've recently expanded their group, adding a member, and this video has a theme of a new girl coming in and getting hazed a bit and then working really hard to do well. But what irritated me about it (and I don't know if the video has anything to do with their recent auditions etc) is that there is this air of the male teacher/trainer/manager person has to legitimize the girl. It's in his eyes that she is working hard and eventually able to succeed.

2PM has released a Japanese track, "Waiting for the Take-off," so far only a non-HD track is online, sorry. At any rate, I think it sounds like bubblegum pop and I expect heavy-hitting mature dance tracks from 2PM, so I'm disappointed.

Former 2PM front man Jay Park has released a mini album including "Abandoned"  This Seattlite is a lightning rod in Korea, and I'm impressed he held off this long to release the mini album, which apparently are almost all songs he wrote (the way many a CD should be and the way K-Pop almost never is). He has an amazing voice and he's one of Korean pop's best dancers… he should go far, far, far if politics of the split from 2PM aren't dogging him too badly. It sounds good, not really my style but great.

Girls Generation (SNSD) has released the full version of "Mr. Taxi."  This track is also in Japanese, but it sounds more natural than 2PM singing in Japanese. I'm not sure why they'd call the song Mr. Taxi and then dress the girls up in taxi driver uniforms (if taxi drivers wore hot pants/skorts). It's a really fun dance track, I hope they release it in Korean.   

Dongdaemun Market and KOUS

April 27^th, 2011

Karjam and I took mom to 동대문시장 Dongdaemun Market, Karjam bought her a modernized 한복 hanbok vest, it's really cool. We walked back along the 청계천 Cheonggyecheon, the awesome streamside park in central Seoul. Then in the evening I took mom to another performance, again dance at KOUS. It was so much less interesting than the previous week, but armed with her knitting (she hardly needs to ever look at it) mom stayed wide awake. I was struck by 진옥섭 Jin Okseop adopting a slightly more serious attitude, there were less jokes and more straightforward introductions to the pieces. Maybe he was just in a bad mood, I don't know.

The first piece, by 김진수 was really odd. First of all he was introduced as doing 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum but when I had first seen the poster for the series I was with 김은주 (Bongsan Talchum isuja) who looked at the poster photo (looking pretty much like Bongsan Talchum) and stated "I have no idea who this guy is." Neither the costume nor the mask looked quite 'right' to me and the motions were pretty different. Afterwards I ran into 고석진 in the hallway and I asked who he had come to see (김진수 and 최종실) so I asked him where 김진수 had learned Bongsan Talchum. He leaned in close to me and said "you know there are two types, the official and the unofficial." I would have asked more questions but right then another friend of his tapped him on the other shoulder, and mom was waiting.

Several were entirely forgettable but then 이민아 performed 승무 seungmu and I felt that she was powerful and expressive. The best two acts, though, were the last 정 란 performed an exquisite 입춤 ipchum, she was very saucy, as though she was making love to the audience. And 최종실 Choi Jongshil, professor of percussion at 중앙대 Jungang University, was awesome. I intend to interview him before long, it just hasn't happened yet. He performed 소고춤 sogochum which is a lot more exciting than it sounds when you see someone do it really well! He would crouch and hit the sogo and the stick on the floor, as well as hit the sogo with the stick, it was very dynamic. All sorts of awesome turns and twists and perfectly timed hits on the sogo. I had met about 9 of his students on the subway, all freshmen. Their department takes 15 a year, and only one was not doing traditional percussion (she was doing Western drum set style). Two of those on the subway were doing 상모/소고 sangmo/sogo as their specialty.  

Bongsan Talchum Class, Changdeok Palace and Pansori!

April 25^th, 2011

I wanted to get some actual work done so before meeting 지수 Jisoo for lunch mom and I went to Starbucks so I could put my headphones on and just concentrate on my writing. Lunch was quite delicious. In the afternoon we did a little shopping for mom. Had dinner, left for class.

This isn't my photography, but it's good photography, has the credit for the photographer and  it shows a great norigae

Tonight I had 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum and we arrived early enough to show mom the building a little bit, including the newly renovated shops on the first floor where the products made by the people in the system for the craft arts. There was a 10,000 dollar horsehair hat and other arts priced similarly. But they're all so beautiful, if I could afford a 1,500 dollar dangly 노리개 accessory for my hanbok I'd buy it! Class was a little odd because the performance (which so many class members are participating in) is Friday, and everyone was exhausted from rehearsals as well as their other duties. Almost everyone was late and no one had any energy for rehearsal. I did have a great talk with 김은주 Kim Eunju and박연식 Bak Yeonshik. I will be going with Yeonshik to observe him teaching classes (in public schools, teaching traditional performance skills and theory) on the 11^th. I'm looking forward to that.

The biggest thing that I noticed and stuck in my head as necessary to write here is the common practice of having the performers sell tickets to the shows they perform in. Of course this doesn't extend to many traditional performances, which are often free. However when it's a show that is being mounted by a group of performers, then they are all tasked to sell tickets—each person is given a stack and told to get their family and friends to come. I'm not saying this is unusual, but it does contribute to a situation where most performances happen in front of an audience that knows other audience members and at least one of the performers, and that happens for the traditional performances as well. It is so common that when I'm going to a show at KOUS if I want to talk to the people next to me a logical question is "Who did you come to see?"

April 26^th, 2011

We took mom to 창덕궁 Changdeokgung (Palace) and the Secret Garden (후원 or 비원 the former meaning more like back garden, the latter meaning secret garden). It was drizzling a bit, just like when we went to 경복궁 Gyeongbok Palace. Mmmmm…  Then we met my good friend 회정 Hoijung for lunch.

In the evening mom and I went to meet 경진 Gyeongjin (the last of my close Korean friends for mom to meet), Jan and Joji at 선릉역 Seollung Station and went to dinner together. After dinner we attended the performance of 안숙선 Ahn Sukseon (best best best singer in Korea and National Human Treasure for 가야금사조 및 병창 gayageum byeongchang), 정재만 (probably my favorite traditional dancer and National Human Treasure for 승무 seungmu) and 정철호 (a well known 판소리 pansori National Human Treasure). The presentation was sort of unusual. For one thing there was an MC, 오정해 Oh Jeonghae—she's a singer and a media "personality"—who was very active in the presentation. They had set up a raised seating platform with a table for tea and the performers sat there, behind whoever was presenting their stuff at that time, although with Ms. Oh. There was also a fair amount of conversation between each piece. I recorded it all, and might transcribe it, but basically they were trying to make people more comfortable with traditional culture, especially what they were seeing, and getting them some more education about it. 

Bongsan Talchum Performance (in the cold) and Wolduk's Wedding

April 23^rd, 2011

We were supposed to take KTX back to Seoul, but since 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli practice was cancelled, we switched to the much cheaper bus. In the evening all three of us went to 남산한옥골 Namsan Hanokgol which is a completely unpopulated 한옥 hanok (traditional Korean building) village in Seoul accessible from 충무로 Chungmuro Subway Station. We were there for a performance of 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum but we were early enough that we could walk around a bit in the last rays of the setting sun on the picturesque buildings.

Quite a few of the evening class students showed up, or specifically 하연, 정현, and 신마. I sat in the front row with mom and took photos on my long zoom (most of the time) and Karjam stood u p above the entire seating area and took video looking down on us. Most of the audience evaporated during the show because it was beastly cold. The performance however was totally awesome, I am so glad that mom got a chance to see that particular show because they really were just blazing.

First they performed 사상좌춤 sasangjwachum, the dance of the four Buddhist novices. Next was the dance of the eight dark-faced monks, they performed monk 1 which I never get to see (except the other day when I went to see 최창주 Choi Changju's class). Then 2, 3, 4, and 8. Of course at the end all 8 danced together. Next they did the story of 소무 Somu and 노장 Nojang, the old monk. What was special is that they really did the whole thing, starting with carrying Somu onto the stage in the litter. The shoe seller and monkey came on and did their bit and last 취발이 Chuibali came and chased of Nojang so he could take Somu for himself. Finally (of course) they did 사장춤 sajachum, the lion dance. I truly think that the two who did the lion were probably the only comfortable people there (temperature wise).

After the show when I was bowing to everyone 장용일 Jang Yongil told me that they don't care if there is just one person in the audience, they're going to give it their all, but he also thanked us for staying in the freezing temperatures.

Mom and I went to Lazy Sue's and had tea and shared a dessert before heading home.

April 24^th, 2011

Sunday was a really busy day. First we got dressed up and went to 김월덕 Kim Woldeok's wedding to 이주원 Yi Juwon. I had an immediately great impression of him, and I think that Woldeok must have been embarrassed to say that he was handsome, because she had said he wasn't yet he looked quite dashing. We took photos with the bride and then sat down to wait for the wedding, Karjam over on one side near the microphones he'd use to sing a congratulatory song, the two of us on the groom's side (better seats were available for filming Karjam and the wedding). It was a large hotel wedding where you sit at your lunch table to watch the wedding. After the ceremony (Karjam's song went off very well) we had lunch, took the group photos and all that. We also peaked in on the 폐백 pyaebaek traditional ceremony for a few minutes with Bonnie and Curtis.

Mom and Karjam went home, I headed to the 임실필봉농악 서울전수관 Imshil Pilbong Nongak Seoul Training Center where I was about 1.5 hours late to a rehearsal with 개전연 Gaejeonyeon (my 풍물 pungmul club) for our performance next weekend from 1-4. The room was packed with 19 participants all dancing and/ or playing instruments. It seems that there are three of us doing 잡색 japsaek (dancing in costume and playing the part of a specific character). I will be 화동 Hwadong , a male character who wears red robes and a red hat with pheasant feathers. I could have asked to do 소고 sogo but someone has to do japsaek and I enjoy it. It's certainly livelier than the other parts, although not a way to show off skills! In the future when my상모  sangmo is just a little better I hope to do sangmo, of course. Of course 은정/도령 Eunjeong was leading the rehearsal. She'll obviously be the 상쇠 sangsoi (꽹과리 ggwaenggwari lead player) for the performance as well.

I rushed home and then mom and I went to check out 인사동 Insadong although it was getting late and shops were rapidly closing.