That’s the intriguing question posed by Andrew Jackson’s talk at the Sheffield BAKS conference last week. It was a question prompted by a statement by Ahn Sang-gun, a senior figure in KOTRA, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency, and reported in the Donga Ilbo on 5 April 2003: that The Way Home and Swiri are … [Read More]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 53)
Brief review: Baudeogi at the Bloomsbury
Another entertaining evening from Think Korea. As the year progresses, the sponsors are learning about how best to introduce their wonderful shows to a western audience. This time, there was a glossy programme which set out some of the background to what we were about to see, which was helpful. There was also some useful … [Read More]
Conference report: the 2006 BAKS conference
The BAKS conference in Sheffield last week had a broad range of speakers. What follows is a personal response to the proceedings, and isn’t meant to be in any way an official account. I apologise to those speakers to whom I devote fewer words. No disrespect is intended. In any occasion like this, some talks … [Read More]
Is The Host anti-American (spoilers)?
The packed performance of The Host at Frightfest on Monday went down well. We were told by the organisers that we were watching the longest possible print. Whether that means there are cuts in other theatrical versions I don’t know. One of the things about The Host is that it’s generated a lot of noise … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 5: the performance
If anything was going to go wrong, it was going to be the Hwimori. The others were easy: at most four lines, each one the same length, and played once before moving on to the next; and the cycle was repeated several times so that there was no way you were going to forget it. … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 4
I can touch my toes for the first time in ages. Such is the effect of sitting on the floor crouching over a drum for three hours solid, four days on the trot. Things were going swimmingly yesterday. We had all done our homework. We were remembering everything, doing the breathing, and actually laughing and … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 3
Mainly consolidation yesterday. Lots of breathing (back-rolling) and reminders of the previous couple of evenings. We were struggling with the heat, and recognising this after a couple of recaps of the ground already covered we played some Korean games. This involved running around, making lots of noise, holding hands and making moves straight out of … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class # 2
Yesterday evening we learnt the backhand. And, in retrospect, as I struggled last night to notate what we learned, we also did triplets. We were without the interpreter yesterday, so 95% of the class was conducted in Korean. Some of the Korean students took pity on us non-Koreans (we had a new joiner, another Brit, … [Read More]
Dulsori evening class #1
I ache. My brain aches from concentrating too much (maybe I should relax and go with the flow, but that only happens when at least three pints of London Pride have gone down my neck). The insides of my legs ache: in order to play the changgo you need to be at least a black … [Read More]
Your feedback from the London Korean Film Festival 2006
Thanks to those of you who replied to LKL’s audience survey of those who attended the 2006 London Korean Film Festival. I’ve passed your detailed comments on to the organisers, Tae-min and Jase, and here is a summary of what you said. Your favourite film of the festival? Dan loved Love is a Crazy Thing, … [Read More]
Yohangza’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Go see it.
Editor’s Note: Go see this wonderful show. It’s outstanding. And to all of you who turned down my offer of a free ticket, you missed out. It’s on for the rest of the week at the Barbican. I can’t add anything to what Colin Bartlett has to say below, in an unsolicited review from last year’s Edinburgh … [Read More]
Prof Kim Chang-nam: history & characteristics of modern Korean culture
(SOAS, 5 June 2006, 7pm: the concluding event of the London Korean Festival 2006) I’m more reluctant than usual to make this post. The ground covered in Professor Kim’s hugely stimulating conclusion to the London Korean Festival was more than extensive, and left the audience wanting to ask tons of questions. To condense a hundred … [Read More]
Danoje: an enjoyable but slightly baffling event from Think Korea
If you had read the blurb on the Bloomsbury Theatre website you might have been expecting two seperate pieces to be on the programme at the NewRa Dance Company’s performance: a performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; and a performance of a Korean springtime ritual. Here’s the material from the Bloomsbury site, which was repeated … [Read More]
Photos of Danoje: springtime rites at the Bloomsbury
After my lacklustre snaps of Lee Soo Young at the Fairfield Hall on May 1st, I thought it was time I entered the 21st century, and persuaded Louise that we needed a pocket digital camera for my birthday. Last night was its first outing in the service of this site. In case anyone’s interested, they … [Read More]
Exhibition Visit: Traditional yet Contemporary
Air Gallery, London, May 29 – June 3 2006 As Stephanie Seung-min Kim says in her article introducing the exhibition, “…culture can only be seen in a clear light when compared with other cultures. I believe that is why Korean ceramic works have to be judged more in an international setting.” The exhibition demonstrated the … [Read More]
Review: Oh! Youran – performance at V&A Korean day, 27 May
I’m sorry I didn’t manage to get to all of the performance of Oh! Youran. For me, Saturday afternoon is not the best time for a theatrical performance, but I guess given the generosity of the V&A in hosting this event in their lecture theatre, certain compromises have to be made in terms of logistics. … [Read More]