The Korea Society is very pleased to present the traditional music and dance of the Chosŏn Kingdom courtesan, performed by Han TeRra, an extraordinary kayagŭm (12-string zither) player from Korea. Dr. Robert Provine, a renowned ethnomusicologist, will provide historical context for her performances, shedding light on the life and artistic world of a kisaeng.
During the half millennium reign of the Chosŏn Kingdom in Korea (1392-1910), there was a class of women whose fate was both appalling and seductive. The kisaeng, sometimes translated as “skilled women,” were selected from an early age for their beauty, given extensive education in poetry, music, the arts, and dance, trained in the skills of courtesanship, and then assigned as professional entertainers to the court and the high government bureaucracy. The Changak-won, one of the national institutes specializing in court performing arts, selected the most talented entertainers, kisaeng, from eight local provinces for annual court ceremonies or events. The selected entertainers were officially named Sŏnsang-gi. They had been trained in a music and dance tradition completely different from the existing court and folk forms. As a result, they played a critical role in the development of culture and arts in Korea.
LIVE HOUSE KOREA is made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts.
Sonnet of an Innocent Flower:
Music and Dance of the Chosŏn Kisaeng
Performed by Han TeRra
with accompanying lecture by Dr. Robert Provine, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland
Thursday, January 17, 2013
6:30 PM
The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
FIRST LOOK hosted by MoMI (Museum of Moving Image) selects the most inventive, groundbreaking, new international cinema from all over the world from newcomers. The Korea Society proudly co-presents Sleepless Night as part of FIRST LOOK.
Soon-young lives with her mentally handicapped father, unscrupulous uncle, and Soon-Ja, her younger sister. When an uncle arranges Soon-young’s adoption to American family for money, the younger sister, who adores her Barbie doll and dreams of one day living in America, decides not to let the adoption happen.
The Korea Society proudly presents renowned p’ansori singer, Kim Sumi, in a rare New York performance of Korean traditional opera. P’ansori is a storytelling genre traditionally performed by a solo vocalist and a drummer playing a puk (barrel drum). The entire dramatic and narrative progression of the story rests on the singer who acts out all the characters, describes the scenes, and provides cultural and historical references. Kim Sumi will perform the “Song of Simch’ŏng, a classic tale of filial love in which a daughter sacrifices for her blind father.
Chef Haelin Lee returns to The Korea Society for a special holiday cooking demonstration and hands-on workshop on seasonal teas and Korean sweets. We’ll brew Omija and Honey Tea; prepare several traditional Korean sweets (Walnut and Persimmon Roll Gotgamssam, Chestnut Paste Yullan, and Sesame Candy Kang Jung); and discover how to bake dried fruit. Chef Lee will also share some holiday packaging ideas so you’ll be able to take home the perfect holiday gift to family or friends.
Lauryn Chun, founder of Mother-in-Law’s Kimchi, launches her new book, The Kimchi Cookbook: 60 Traditional and Modern Ways to Make and Eat Kimchi, at The Korea Society on Wednesday, November 28. A superb introduction to making kimchi, the evening will inspire you to try Chun’s inventive Kimchi-inspired recipes, like Kimchi Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs, and make many different kinds of kimchi at home.
Youn-ho, who is about to be engaged to a longtime girlfriend, discovers that his mother has run away. Soon a loan shark comes calling. Now he must find his mother in order to survive.
Dr. David R. McCann, Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature at Harvard University, reveals the unique correlation between 20th century Korean photographs and modern Korean poetry through examples from Traces of Life: Seen Through Korean Eyes 1945-1992, the current exhibition at The Korea Society Gallery.
Share in a musical global journey with virtuoso Mina Um, who took first at the Seventh Annual New York Music Competition and performed after at Carnegie Hall. She appeared as a soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Boston Festival Orchestra and Farmington Valley Symphony. As a member of the Juilliard Orchestra, she performed again at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Having appeared on ABC and in New York Magazine, Ms. Um performs works by Bach (Sonata No. 3), Paganini (Caprice No. 21, Op. 1), Piazzolla (Tango Etudes), and Yun Isang (Das Vogenchen from Li-Na im Garten). In preparing for her debut at TKS, Ms. Um hints, “My violin is my time machine. With it, I travel through time and around the world.”
Seventeen-year-old Wan-deuk has every reason to be a rebellious and troubled student. Though he has a disabled father, a runaway mother, and comes from a desperately poor family, he never loses a fight. Wan-Deuk meets teacher Dong-Joo, who inspires him take up kickboxing.