Korea: Performing Arts- The Wonderful World Of Kim Sung Hee (1979)

My name is Kim Sung Hee. It is an honor to introduce you to my world. The world of Kim Sung Hee is a magic world tuned to the tempo of an earlier time before Korea became Korea. When performers of the ancient kingdom of Goryeo delighted guests at the palace with their talented grace. Only now we dance not for the royal court. We dance for all the people of Korea that they may share in the majesty of their rich heritage. Ancient music and dance give wings to history to the long proud sometimes sad yet always colorful story of my people. But when the curtain falls, see how eagerly the dancers rush back to present day. Back to the wonderful world of here and now. Sometimes, for my friends and me, it is hard to believe. Is it really true? Is Kim Sung Hee really here at National Theater in Seoul, home of the very best in all performing arts? In serenity of nature, it is time to reflect, to remember the way it came to be. When I was a little girl, my mother said, "To become a dancer is very hard. But when you are 8 years old, a dream is not easy to put aside." My grandfather used to take me often to mask dance, held in village where we live. Mask dance is very old, very popular all over Korea. In old days, it gave the villagers a chance to poke fun at stupid or corrupt officials while villagers are safe behind false faces. Each mask is very symbolic. One means evil, like bad monk. One means brave, like lion. Everybody knows what each mask means. It used to be the mask dance was people's way to celebrate the new year or harvest season. Now, it is part of a folk festival competition to see which village has the best dancers. Of all Korean folk dances, the farmers dance looks most spirited and exciting. Really quite subtle and complex. Used to be a time of planting, time of harvest, the rural people gathered to offer prayers or give thanks. The farmers dance was a welcome release from long hours in the fields in those days. In these days, the farmers dance is the most enthusiastically applauded of all. When the national company go on tour of the world, it speaks to all who see it of the creativity and vigor of my land. >> But folk dancing was not for me. When I was a little girl, my dream was to master the subtle and difficult movements of the court dance. The court dance was traditionally performed on the occasion of a royal banquet. Like all Korean dance, it places emphasis on the shoulder. Shoulder and delicate movement including the quiet moments for spiritual feelings expressed in stillness. This dance Chun Eng Jun nightingale singing in springtime is from the Yi Dynasty 4 or 500 years ago. The brilliant yellow of dancer's gown is symbolic of nightingale. Glowing robes of the musicians, color of kings, royal red. Everything has a meaning. Even the mat under the dancer's feet signifies carpet of flowers. Unity with nature is a prevailing theme of all art in my country. The conductor stands at the rear setting tempo with the bak. Court music called aak uses native Korean instruments. The janggo, the piri, and the haegeum. The music of Korea had its beginnings in the rituals of Confucianism. But the historical music was augmented and changed over the centuries to meet Korean tastes. When Korea became a republic, the old ways of the dynasties were discarded. Still, the traditional music, while no longer associated with the ancient ceremonies, was preserved as a valued jewel in a cultural heritage. Under the auspices of the National Music Institute, small, intimate groups such as this, as well as the type of larger, more formal orchestras, once heard only within palace walls, continue to evoke a unique image of the universe. For to a Korean, music expressed the accord of heaven and earth, the harmony between man and cosmos. When soloist Kim Jong Su lifts his taegum, a native Korean flute, to his lips, its sound calls forth a song of autumn, of that quiet, wistful moment when the beauties of summer draw to a close and both man and nature mourn. >> Not all the songs of traditional Korea are instrumental, of course, nor are they recreations of court music. The pansori singers have delighted the common folk since time immemorial with vivacious retellings of the nation's favorite tales. This is Korea's most beloved romance with the artist taking all the parts, boy, girl, and anyone who momentarily comes between them obstructing the course of true love. The romantic ballad figures as prominently in Korean traditional music as in the folk songs of any other nation, but it is given a distinctive Korean touch when accompanied by the delicate variety of tones from the gayageum. The gayageum, most Korean of all instruments, a legacy from the Kaya region, which gave it its name. Geum, an instrument. Gayageum, the instrument of Kaya. Invented about the time the Dark Ages were descending on Western civilization. Instrument is very old. Dream is ever new. Like me, who once had a dream to dance in the National Theater, young girls in the music class at middle school in Seoul now have dream to be concert gayageum artist someday. They practice, practice, practice. And like me, girls have one foot in the modern, upward striving world of Korea today, and one foot in the nostalgic, backward glancing world of the past. The performing arts in Korea, music, drama, dance, all have the same goal. To appreciate the new, remember well the old. And that the best of two worlds is what makes my world wonderful. Today Kim Sung-hee girl from humble village dons garments of a princess. And in the secret garden, the royal palace helps to bring time-honored beauty back to nature's setting where it belongs. Tonight tonight Kim Sung-hee becomes a village maiden of long ago. When young girls of that time used to gather on the night of the full moon January, August and offer up their grace and beauty to the heavenly spirits. >> This gate of the National Theatre often resounds with Chak Pop, a Buddhist ritual dance based on a memorial service for the deceased to ensure a safe and peaceful passage of the soul to paradise. >> It makes one feel good that she has accomplished this thing. That your mother was right. It can be. As for me, Kim Sung Hee say it is good. It is good to be a part of the young, modern outlook, which has transformed this ancient land. It is good to have one's dream come true, to pay homage to discipline and grace of nature with discipline and grace of one's own. It is a wonderful world. >> Hey.