As anyone who has ever spent more than ten minutes with me knows... I love p'ansori. Many of you may also question my mental stability because of this obsession, but let me show you why I have allowed this art to consume the greater part of the last decade of my life...
First, a brief introduction to the genre. (Feel free to skip this part and go straight to the far more entertaining videos below.)
P’ansori is a solo narrative art form in which a singer, accompanied by a single drummer, relates a long and complex tale through song, spoken passages, and corresponding dramatic gestures. The genre was developed by folk musicians before the eighteenth century; over time its performance style evolved according to singer preferences, the tastes of the audience, influence of the literati elite, as well as social and performance environments.
The typical performance setting of contemporary p’ansori is minimal; neither stage props nor special costumes are used. The singer sits or stands on a straw mat, wears traditional Korean clothing, and uses only a folding fan to represent objects (i.e. a saw, as in the first video below), ideas (for example, power) or attributes (including bashfulness or sorrow). The fan may also be opened and closed to add to the aural landscape, or to emphasize certain aspects of the sung text. In addition, the drummer and audience add to the soundscape with their ch’uimsae, or words of encouragement: Ŏlssigu! (“way to go,” or “right on”), Chot’a! (“nice”), or Kŭlŏch’i! (“so it is”). This you will clearly see in the second video.
A p’ansori singer must portray and distinguish between a vast array of characters: male and female, young and old, common and elite, benevolent and reprobate. In order to relate musical and dramatic nuances effectively, a p’ansori singer must learn to produce a large number of characteristic tone qualities, even using their voice at times to imitate sounds in nature.
Okay, enough of that...
The following three videos were recording on April 22, 2008 at the Namsan Traditional Music Theater. This is considered a "full-length" performance -- telling the entire tale over a period of about two hours! The performer is my favorite... my dear friend and former teacher, Lee Ju-eun. I fully recognize that I am biased. But observing this concert as a scholar, not just a friend, I can assure you Ju-eun is one of the most accomplished singers alive today and is, (as the title of a paper I published about her and two other singers attests) "Destined for Greatness." 팔자 그래!
I won't take the time to tell you the whole story of the Song of Heungbo that she is singing, but in essence it is the story of a kind-hearted man, Heungbo, who has been treated poorly by his greedy and cruel older brother, and as a result is living a destitute existence with his wife and 11 children. One day Heungbo finds a swallow with a broken leg. He tends and cares for the swallow, who in return blesses him with three magical gourd seeds. After the gourds have grown to maturity, they are opened one by one with a large saw. Out of each pours rice, fine silks, gold and other treasures, making Heungbo the richest man in the country. His brother is terribly jealous and wants all of the gifts for himself, which Heungbo gladly shares.
The first video shows one of the gourds being opened.
I've included the second video because you can see well the role of the drummer in encouraging the singer and helping to move the music along.
The final video is the very last scene of the performance, in which, after having seen the splendid results of his gift, the swallow flies off into the distance. Keep in mind that she is still performing with this much power and energy after nearly two hours of singing!
Although the videos are not of a professional quality (I had to film them rather surreptitiously) I hope you can enjoy the splendor of the music and story as much as I!
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Taste of Friendship
Herein is a tale of a few recent adventures I've had with Korean food...
For some reason, my good friend (and former p'ansori teacher) Lee Ju-eun thinks I am a vegetarian. The reason for this is a REALLY long story, but suffice it to say that she is my best friend here in Korea, she understands me better than anyone else in this fair land, and we eat together maybe two to three times a month and each and every time I tell her, "No, it is not I who is the vegetarian, it is my friend, Diana, who you met only twice ten years ago, SHE was the vegetarian, NOT me...," yet still somehow she is convinced it is I that am the herbivore. So, knowing I don't eat meat, she decides to take me to a restaurant a while back that serves only innards -- yep, no meat for me, but bring on those grilled intestines, brains, and other unspeakables!
She also (supposedly) knows that although I don't mind most fish and shrimp..., I'm not a huge slimy-seafood-lovin'-kinda-gal, but... on Lunar New Year's Eve she invites me to her master teacher's house. Mind you, this is a big deal. I've met Shin Young-hee on several occasions before, but it is really a privilege to go to her house for dinner on a day meant to honor our elders and ancestors. (I didn't bow down to her and slide her a little white envelop filled with loads of cash like I probably should have, but nonetheless, I was there to watch other disciples do so.) Anyway, I am well aware that Master Shin is known for her cooking (she has even published her own cookbook), but that she is also from a southern island where they eat mostly seafood, but I'm thinking... "Okay, it is tradition to eat "dduk-guk" (a very mild, chewy rice cake soup) for New Years, so I should be safe." But, oh no! Master Shin decides to make "special" dduk-guk, with horrid little mollusk-like creatures in it. I don't know what these things are, but I know they should not be eaten by humankind. I had about 20 of them in my bowl -- I was the honored guest after all -- and the whole time I'm just thinking "how am I going to get through this?" But somehow, and I'm not kidding, a miracle occurred. At one point I'd eaten about 5 and I'm thinking okay, I'm gonna live, only 15 more to go, when suddenly, they were gone. REALLY, I don't know what happened to them. It was the opposite of feeding the masses with a mere two loaves and five fishes. Those nasty little buggers just swam away, or something -- all I know is that they disappeared.
THEN, one day not long after that, Ju-eun and I decided to go out for super spicy stir-fried squid. Now, you'd think that that might be the end of the story, but truth be told, "Nakchi-pokkum" is one of my favorite dishes. BUT... the owner of the store just loves Ju-eun (because they are from the same hometown down on the southern coast and can talk -- and be understood -- in the unique dialect of the area), so rather than giving us what we ordered, she decides to give us her favorite treat. Yep, you guessed it... LIVE SQUID!! I so wished I had a camera. It wasn't as bad as it could be, because at least the lady cut it up for us -- I didn't have to wrap the whole beast around my chopsticks and try to swallow it before it sticks permanently in my throat. But I kid you not, even chopped up, those little legs are just a-wrigglin' and a-squirmin' around on the plate. In fact, they are a little hard to eat, not only because the thing has only been dead for 30 seconds, but because the tentacles are actually stuck to the plate -- you really gotta work to try to get them detached (not to mention then stick them in your mouth and chew!)
Okay, so I live through that one, and at some level even enjoyed the meal, only to join Ju-eun the following week at a restaurant specializing in oysters. Egad. Anything but oysters. Not only slimy, but gritty, too. Can there be a worse combination? And there they were in my bowl. Mounds of them. Seriously, I think I had twice as many as Ju-eun (who loves, them, of course.) And, to make it worse, just when I think I might actually be able to conquer the oyster soup, she decides she wants a heaping plateful of deep-fried oysters, too! I don't know how I survived, but I did! The strange thing was, they were actually pretty good -- not gritty, and not even as slimy as most oysters. I can't say it would be my first choice for a meal in the future, but not so bad, not so bad.
And so, if stories such as these have not frightened you completely... please, come join me in Korea and I'll take you out for some truly delectable goodies!
For some reason, my good friend (and former p'ansori teacher) Lee Ju-eun thinks I am a vegetarian. The reason for this is a REALLY long story, but suffice it to say that she is my best friend here in Korea, she understands me better than anyone else in this fair land, and we eat together maybe two to three times a month and each and every time I tell her, "No, it is not I who is the vegetarian, it is my friend, Diana, who you met only twice ten years ago, SHE was the vegetarian, NOT me...," yet still somehow she is convinced it is I that am the herbivore. So, knowing I don't eat meat, she decides to take me to a restaurant a while back that serves only innards -- yep, no meat for me, but bring on those grilled intestines, brains, and other unspeakables!
She also (supposedly) knows that although I don't mind most fish and shrimp..., I'm not a huge slimy-seafood-lovin'-kinda-gal, but... on Lunar New Year's Eve she invites me to her master teacher's house. Mind you, this is a big deal. I've met Shin Young-hee on several occasions before, but it is really a privilege to go to her house for dinner on a day meant to honor our elders and ancestors. (I didn't bow down to her and slide her a little white envelop filled with loads of cash like I probably should have, but nonetheless, I was there to watch other disciples do so.) Anyway, I am well aware that Master Shin is known for her cooking (she has even published her own cookbook), but that she is also from a southern island where they eat mostly seafood, but I'm thinking... "Okay, it is tradition to eat "dduk-guk" (a very mild, chewy rice cake soup) for New Years, so I should be safe." But, oh no! Master Shin decides to make "special" dduk-guk, with horrid little mollusk-like creatures in it. I don't know what these things are, but I know they should not be eaten by humankind. I had about 20 of them in my bowl -- I was the honored guest after all -- and the whole time I'm just thinking "how am I going to get through this?" But somehow, and I'm not kidding, a miracle occurred. At one point I'd eaten about 5 and I'm thinking okay, I'm gonna live, only 15 more to go, when suddenly, they were gone. REALLY, I don't know what happened to them. It was the opposite of feeding the masses with a mere two loaves and five fishes. Those nasty little buggers just swam away, or something -- all I know is that they disappeared.
THEN, one day not long after that, Ju-eun and I decided to go out for super spicy stir-fried squid. Now, you'd think that that might be the end of the story, but truth be told, "Nakchi-pokkum" is one of my favorite dishes. BUT... the owner of the store just loves Ju-eun (because they are from the same hometown down on the southern coast and can talk -- and be understood -- in the unique dialect of the area), so rather than giving us what we ordered, she decides to give us her favorite treat. Yep, you guessed it... LIVE SQUID!! I so wished I had a camera. It wasn't as bad as it could be, because at least the lady cut it up for us -- I didn't have to wrap the whole beast around my chopsticks and try to swallow it before it sticks permanently in my throat. But I kid you not, even chopped up, those little legs are just a-wrigglin' and a-squirmin' around on the plate. In fact, they are a little hard to eat, not only because the thing has only been dead for 30 seconds, but because the tentacles are actually stuck to the plate -- you really gotta work to try to get them detached (not to mention then stick them in your mouth and chew!)
Okay, so I live through that one, and at some level even enjoyed the meal, only to join Ju-eun the following week at a restaurant specializing in oysters. Egad. Anything but oysters. Not only slimy, but gritty, too. Can there be a worse combination? And there they were in my bowl. Mounds of them. Seriously, I think I had twice as many as Ju-eun (who loves, them, of course.) And, to make it worse, just when I think I might actually be able to conquer the oyster soup, she decides she wants a heaping plateful of deep-fried oysters, too! I don't know how I survived, but I did! The strange thing was, they were actually pretty good -- not gritty, and not even as slimy as most oysters. I can't say it would be my first choice for a meal in the future, but not so bad, not so bad.
And so, if stories such as these have not frightened you completely... please, come join me in Korea and I'll take you out for some truly delectable goodies!
Livin' it up in White Vil
Okay, so my original intent was to add to my blog more than once or twice a year, but obviously I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked. Actually, the last few months have been the busiest of my life, not leaving much time or energy for such pleasantries as writing about my life on a blog. But enough of that...
Since my last entry was about finding an apartment, I thought it best to begin again with an introduction to my new abode... Welcome to White Vil! (Seriously, who comes up these names?) Maybe its Korea's not so subtle form of segregation. But then again, I haven't yet found Brown Vil (although there are 30-story "Brownstone" apartment buildings to be found in Seoul -- guess they don't quite understand the concept), or Yellow Vil or even Green Vil for our friends from Mars. Maybe my home is just meant to be a place of purity. Maybe its just a name. Whatever the case, it makes me laugh.
Although not so spacious, I'm actually quite pleased with my abode. My own mini-museum filled with lovely things collected around the world. Let me give you a guided tour...
As I said, not so spacious, but it is home and I'm happy with it!
Since my last entry was about finding an apartment, I thought it best to begin again with an introduction to my new abode... Welcome to White Vil! (Seriously, who comes up these names?) Maybe its Korea's not so subtle form of segregation. But then again, I haven't yet found Brown Vil (although there are 30-story "Brownstone" apartment buildings to be found in Seoul -- guess they don't quite understand the concept), or Yellow Vil or even Green Vil for our friends from Mars. Maybe my home is just meant to be a place of purity. Maybe its just a name. Whatever the case, it makes me laugh.
Although not so spacious, I'm actually quite pleased with my abode. My own mini-museum filled with lovely things collected around the world. Let me give you a guided tour...
Kitchen
(Actually, my kitchen is much more bright and cheery now, I put up a couple pictures and changed the order of things a bit, but I left my camera at school so I can't take a new picture for you at the moment)
(Actually, my kitchen is much more bright and cheery now, I put up a couple pictures and changed the order of things a bit, but I left my camera at school so I can't take a new picture for you at the moment)
Bedroom
(Ah, to "Dream a Dragon's Dream" all I need do is look above me...)
(Ah, to "Dream a Dragon's Dream" all I need do is look above me...)
Living Room
(It took me several years of hunting to find the perfect traditional Korean chest, this one being in fine condition considering the fact it is more than 200 years old. And thanks to Lumina's grand artistry it is well complimented by the beautiful persimmon painting. Oh, and why not throw in an Australian didgeridoo just for fun. )
(It took me several years of hunting to find the perfect traditional Korean chest, this one being in fine condition considering the fact it is more than 200 years old. And thanks to Lumina's grand artistry it is well complimented by the beautiful persimmon painting. Oh, and why not throw in an Australian didgeridoo just for fun. )
A Room with a View
(Lots of book, and a view to enjoy the sunlight)
(Lots of book, and a view to enjoy the sunlight)
The Entertainment Room
Entry and Exercise Facility
As I said, not so spacious, but it is home and I'm happy with it!
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