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Korea's Namsadang: Fresh From the Olympics
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14848 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
2,109 Words |
| Author
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Paula S. Lawrence
Paula S. Lawrence is assistant director of the Department of
Performances, Film, and Lectures at The Asia Society in New
York City. |
Fall 1988 is the time when the whole world has become Korea-conscious. The Seoul Olympic Games caught everyone's attention in September. And in the next two months, Americans will have the opportunity to discover the delights of Namsadang, one of the most dynamic and popular forms of Korean folk entertainment, fresh from performing at the Olympics.
Namsadang grew out of travelling troupes of professional entertainers who once roamed the countryside performing peasant festival music. Going from village to village, they would dance and drum, juggle, walk tightropes, and act out masked dance plays and puppet shows. This fall a ten-member troupe from Seoul, under the direction of the Samul Nori percussion troupe, is bringing the vigorous, at times ritualistic, robustly earthy, and satirical art of Namsadang on its first tour of the United States.
American audiences have previously gotten a taste of Korean folk music with the Samul Nori troupe (the name is derived from the words sa and mul meaning four instruments, and the verb nori, to play). This four-member percussion ensemble won critical praise at the Percussive Arts Society convention in Dallas in 1983 and a featured artists at the Knoxville, Tennessee, World's Fair. Two previous U.S. tours sponsored by The Asia Society in 1983 and 1985 earned the troupe standing ovations with reviews to match. Headed by Kim Duk Soo on the changgo (hourglass drum), Lee Kwang Soo on the k'kwaenggwari (hand-held gong), Chori Jong Sil on the Puk (round drum), and Kang Min Suk on the ching (large gong), the Samul Nori group is the musical heartbeat of the Namsadang troupe.
Drum Virtuosi
Kim Duk Soo began his career at age six, learning the skills of playing both drums and gongs from the great masters of Namsadang. One year after launching his career, at age seven, Kim had achieved such a remarkable mastery of his craft that he won the Presidential Award at the National Farmers Festival Music and dance Competitions in 1959. Not only had he already attained incredible speed and facility on the hourglass drum, but he could also twirl the long paper streamer attached to his hat, the sangmo, at the same time that he played and danced. Eight years after graduation from the Korean Conservatory of Folk Musical Arts, Kim founded him Samul Nori ensemble. He also lectures at the music department of Hanyang University in Seoul.
Like Kim, Chori Jong Sil began his musical career at an early age.
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