National Intangible Heritage Center Hosts Year-End Performance Harmonizing Tradition and Modernity

The Cultural Heritage Administration’s National Intangible Heritage Center (Director Lee Jong-hee) will hold the year-end performance “Intangible Heritage Future Star Ultra Cap Show” at 4 p.m. on December 11 at the Eolsseumaru Grand Theater of the National Intangible Heritage Center in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do.

The performance features ▲‘Ikkeullim Yeonhui Workshop,’ which develops popular culture content based on traditional performance arts ▲‘Park Da-ul,’ a skilled musician who reinterprets the geomungo with groundbreaking performances ▲‘Modern Table,’ led by choreographer Kim Jae-deok, presenting visible music and audible dance ▲‘Gu Bon-jin,’ a mask transformation performer who created the Mask Transformation Play ▲‘Seodo Band,’ centered on singer-songwriter Seodo, who pioneered the genre called ‘Joseon Pop,’ along with other inheritors and performance teams preparing unique stages that harmonize tradition and modernity. The hosts are ▲Gyeonggi folk singer Shin Seung-tae and Imi-ri, who are gaining attention for their charming voices and skills.

The opening act, ‘Ikkeullim Yeonhui Workshop’s’ ‘Munyeop Show,’ captivates the audience with suspicious sounds and gestures of suspicious clowns. The performance, which modernly reinterprets Mun-gut (ritual performance) and street parade, approaches the public with traditional rhythms given character.

On the second stage, ‘Park Da-ul’ performs ‘Geomun Jangnangam’ by layering various sounds of the geomungo using a loop station. The rich melodies and diverse rhythms stimulate the audience’s excitement and enhance the immersion of the performance.

Third, ‘Modern Table’ presents ‘Darkness Pumba,’ a modern dance reinterpretation of Pumba, a traditional Korean motif. The dynamic movements of male dancers blend with live performances of a singer, guitar, bass, and drums, dancing and singing while overcoming darkness. Pumba is a sound that cheers up the mood to the rhythm of taryeong jangdan (a traditional rhythmic pattern).

Fourth is ‘Ikkeullim Yeonhui Workshop’s’ ‘Seonban Show,’ which uses traditional materials such as beonna (spinning plates) and jukbangul (bamboo percussion). You can also see ‘Gu Bon-jin’s’ ‘Mask Transformation Play.’ This play combines Korea’s traditional mask dance and Chinese bian lian (face-changing) to bring together the main roles of Goseong Ogwangdae in one space.

Fifth, ‘Seodo Band’ leads the audience’s excitement with ‘Arirang’ featuring groove added to gilgunak jangdan (traditional marching rhythm), ‘Sarangga,’ a modern retelling of the love story of Chunhyang and Mongryong, ‘Baetnorae,’ inspired by folk boat songs with added Irish sounds, and ‘Ganggangsullae,’ reflecting women’s sorrows onto the hearts of modern people.

This performance operates on a reservation basis to prevent and contain infectious diseases, and the National Intangible Heritage Center will live-stream the performance on Naver TV for audiences who cannot visit the venue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.