A clown wearing a traditional Korean mask enters the stage to announce a rousing dance number. Showering him with enthusiastic applause, the audience moves to the beat in their seats as a group of masked dancers work the crowd with their cheerful dancing.

This isn’t just a dance performance, but an all-around extravaganza of Korean folk band samulnori, Korean folk songs, pansori, and even shamanistic ritual dance. This all-inclusive performance titled “PAN,” meaning a venue or a platform in Korean, is showcased all year round at Gwanghwamun Art Hall.

Gwanghwamun Art Hall can be reached from Gyeongbok Palace Station of subway line number three. Walk past the Sajik Park toward Inwang Skyway for about five minutes to come to the performance hall. PAN is a traditional Korean folk party led by master samulnori performer Kim Duk-soo. Anchored in this permanent venue, PAN has already notched 500 performances since starting on September 12, 2008. Traditional celebration or party is a multi-genre folk performance that reflects not only songs, dances, and plays of the time, but also social and religious features and our lives. Korean tradition has been played down ever since Japanese and western cultures made inroad into Korea during the Japanese occupation and the Korean War. But now efforts are in full swing to resurrect this celebratory form of Korean tradition by establishing a permanent venue for it. First, let’s find out what PAN is all about. Here’s Mr. Lee Kyung-pil of Hanullim Performing Art Troupe to tell us more about the performance.

PAN is originally a Korean word meaning a venue or a platform. Traditional performances in Korea used to be held not in enclosed spaces, but in open courtyards. We chose this word to indicate the time and space of our performance. PAN is a traditional performance centering on percussion-based music and dance. Except for one program, the entire performance is comprised of percussion. The pieces also incorporate the elements of samulnori, shamanistic rituals, folk songs, mask dance, and other traditional art forms. PAN does not differentiate between actors and audience. Spectators can join in the fun by shouting out their own words of encouragement or merriment and performers communicate with the audience through dance, songs, and musical instruments.

A performance that brings actors and the audience together? That certainly tweaks our curiosity. So now we settle in our seats and eagerly wait for the show to begin.

Suddenly a sound comes from an exit in the back.

That sound signals the beginning of the performance PAN. Here’s So Gyeong-jin of Hanullim Performing Art Troupe.

The concept of gilnori길놀이 is to bring good fortune inside the theater. Gilnori is a means for the performers to wish good luck to the audience and communicate with them.

A Korean folk band streams in, playing the Korean flute, double-sided drums, metal gongs, and big drums. The audience watches them make their way from the back of the theater to the stage in the front. The band is followed by three shamans, who put on a performance to wish good fortune to the audience.

One of the shamans comes down from the stage, carrying the flags of five traditional colors – yellow, blue, white, red, and black. She asks one of the audience members to pick one flag and the spectator chooses the red one symbolizing material wealth.

Once the well-wishing shamans leave the stage, three big drums take up the space.

The drum performance is called Ilgohwarak. The resonant sounds of the drums echo through the heart. Hundreds of drum beats in Korea were supposedly based on human heartbeat, which may be why our hearts react so primordially to the sound. Here’s Kim Kyung-jin from Hanullim Performing Arts Troupe.

The drum signifies the heart. The drum is the most primitive and basic instrument that can touch the heart. I think this instrument is perfect for conveying Korean sentiments and communicating with the rest of the world. Drum is a voiceless language. Just playing it can tell people what I feel.

The sound of the three drums is amplified by that of five double-sided Korean drum called janggu. The big screen hung behind the stage shows a background photo of the woods penetrated by a single ray of sunlight. Drummers sound out their instruments against the lush green forest. The sound makes us feel like we’re listening to a chorus of drums in the middle of the woods.

Following the five janggus are three-drum dancers. The theater is filled with the thundering sound of drums.

I liked the grand drum the best. I’ve already seen this show in France when Korean performers came to do the show. It was really energetic.

What follows the rumbling performance of the drums is pansori, a UNESCO-designated intangible cultural asset. Korean pansori is similar to the opera or musical of the west. What sets pansori different from an opera or a musical is that one person takes on multiple roles. That is, one singer sings, narrates, and acts to the music of one drummer. For today’s performance the pansori singer chose to sing the highlight of Shimjeongga or the Song of Shim Cheong, the symbol of loving daughter, to take the audience to an emotional climax.

To restore sight for her father, Shim Cheong has sold herself for three hundred bushels of rice and thrown herself into the water. Moved by her love for her father, however, the sea king saves her life and sends her to be reunited with her father, who by then had his sight back, and in the process weds an emperor to became impressed with her filial loyalty. That’s the story of Shim Cheong!

For foreigners who don’t know Korean there are screens on both sides of the stage with translated subtitles in English, Japanese, and Chinese. But even without the subtitles foreign audience members can fully identify with the plight of Shim Cheong and feel extremely moved by the scene where her father regains his sight.

It was really interesting when I heard pansori. We couldn’t understand the words, but were able to fully understand the emotions.

The pansori singer tells the audience how to enjoy the performance even more – by injecting chumimsae or shouts of simple vowels or encouragement. No true audience members stay quiet during a Korean traditional performance. It is almost required for them to add their own reactions to the play, which is just what chuimsae is.

After the performance of a heart-warming pansori comes another round of exciting musical performance. This time it’s a collection of best farmers’ songs from all around the country. Here’s So Gyeong-jin of Hanullim Performing Arts Troupe.

This samulnori brought all the good songs from the eight provinces of Korea. This is a great way to enjoy the different musical rhythms of different regions. Utdari웃다리 is from the Seoul region and has an organized and stylish feel to it. Songs from Gyeongsang Province are simple but powerful and masculine, while those of Jeolla Province are feminine and delicate. This samulnori performance has a balance of sophistication, masculinity and femininity.

These music pieces are quite impressive. The metal gongs symbolize the lightning and thunder, and the janggu the clouds. All the musical instruments used in samulnori represent the elements of the world.

Even after the samulnori performance is over, the sound of all those instruments keeps ringing in the ears. A little relaxing number of familiar folk songs would help calm the over-excited senses. The audience is therefore given a double treat of folk songs and traditional dances.

If large drums and lively samulnori were flashy, Korean folk songs are down-to-earth and tug at our hearts. Perhaps that is why just humming to the tunes cures Koreans of any emotional ills.

The audience gets swept up in excitement while enjoying the percussion performance, samulnori, dances, and folk songs. But this is not all there is to PAN. As a matter of fact, this is where the highlight begins. A festive celebration with masked clowns is coming up.

All the masks representing different regions of Korea have come together in this party. A farmers’ band twirling the long ribbons attached to their hats joins the clowns. The crowd cheers on loudly as the band members spin the ribbons measuring twelve times longer than your arm span.

The clowns start turning plates.
Ninety minutes of pure entertainment finally comes to an end.

- It was really exciting and my stress is blown away. What do I remember? I remember that it was fun putting in chuimsae during the Song of Shim Cheong.
- Hearing three large drums was really great, because I felt the spirit of Goguryeo. It was majestic and powerful. I think the male drummers did a great job.
- I liked the pansori performance. It wasn’t too long and not boring. I was worried that pansori would be boring, but it appealed to me.

Do you want to have a rousing good time? Well, come see the traditional performance PAN and immerse yourself in the traditional performing arts of Korea.