Korean Music, Dance Shine at Culture Show

A pair of children, zooming across the floor of Lowell Lecture Hall on their knees, opened the Korean Association Culture Show on Saturday night even before the emcees had found their mikes.

The tiny children, who were swept up by their parents shortly before the performance began, were part of a group of adopted Korean American children who had come with their parents to see the yearly celebration of Korean culture.

The third annual event offered modern American interpretations of traditional Korean arts—including drumming, fan dancing and Tae Kwon Do—and attracted more than 200 people, according to Korean Association culture chair Isaac Kim ’04.

Han Ma-Eum, Harvard’s Korean drum troupe, began the show with a thumping and clanging battle of beats that represented Korea’s triumph at sea over Japan in 1592, according to the piece’s composer, William L. “Lonnie” Everson ’02, former president of the Harvard Japan Society.

The 17 performers sparred with percussive phrases played on barrel-sized drums and copper pot-like cymbals. One group of drummers represented the agile tiger, a traditional symbol of Korea, while another group represented the booming, dragon-like power of Japan, Everson said.

Although the piece depicted a major event in Korean history, rhythmical step performances by black student groups had inspired many of the beat patterns, he said.

Later in the show, members of the Harvard World Tae Kwon Do Federation broke one-inch pine boards and concrete slabs with their hands and feet.

A fashion show entitled “Evolve” traced how clothing has helped Koreans and Korean Americans to establish their identity. Models wearing traditional gowns with wide, high-waist skirts and cropped jackets were the first to cross the catwalk. The gowns are called hanboks and, like their Japanese counterpart, the kimono, they uniquely identify a nation.

Tattered silk-screen shirts, jeans, and mini-skirts followed in the show, which was directed by Janet L. Kim ’03. The words Korea and America were stamped across the original designs in both English and Korean.

In the final act, the fluttering fans and swirling gowns that graced Korean royal courts of yore met the boisterous yet elegant thumping drums of the farming and commoner classes.

While fan dancing and drum performances are standard elements of Korean cultural shows, the Harvard students paired the two distinct art forms in a single performance.

Innovation and melding of cultural influences distinguished Harvard’s culture show, which included original composition, choreography and fashion design, said Korean Association President Aram Yang ’02.

“This is something you would never see in Korea,” Yang said. “But it shows that, regardless of our background, we share a common immigrant experience, an experience that is vibrant and changing.”