Rounds of cheers and applause… helping spread Korean traditional arts
Dankook University, a leader in international exchanges to promote Korean culture abroad, recently took its Korean traditional dance performance to Hungary and Sweden.
The start of the Europe performance was held at the Korean Culture Festival in Budapest, Hungary on September 26th. Part 1 of the performance, ‘TaePyungSungDae (Peaceful Era)’ displayed palace life and royal costumes with a grand stage and magnificent music that captured the eyes and ears of the audience. The performances in Part 2, ‘Spring Scenery’ and a ‘Love Song,’ demonstrated traditional Korean lanterns (cheongsachorong) and the beautiful yet mysterious image of the traditional Korean scholar-class. The Nongak traditional folk dance with janggu (hourglass drum), sogo (handheld drums), and buk (barrel drum) etc went on stage and in an instant drew in the audience who were soon clapping along the beat. As soon as the performance ended, cheers and applause followed.
Fascinating the Swedish audience at the Stockholm Concert Hall, home of the Nobel Prize Ceremony
The Sweden performance was held during the Korean National Day event hosted by the Korean Embassy in Sweden on October 3rd to commemorate Korea’s National Foundation Day. Wanting to introduce the beautiful performance of DKU’s Korean dance group to the Swedish people, Ambassador Nam Gwan-pyo of Korea in Sweden directly contacted DKU President Chang Hosung to invite the dancers to the Scandinavian country.
The performance mesmerized the audience of more than 900 people including ambassadors, government officials and Korean citizens in Sweden who gathered at the Stockholm Concert Hall where the Nobel prizes are handed out each year. Ambassador Nam said that “DKU is the first foreign performance group to give such a monumental and spectacular performance,” and expressed his gratitude as he said that “the ambassadors and representatives from different countries couldn’t stop marveling ‘excellent!’ DKU has contributed to enhancing the image of Korea.”
