Haunting performances

Sunday Special: here's the video of Miyeon and Jechun's 'Cheong Alive', the opening concert of the 2014 Jeonju International Sori Festival I mentioned the other day (see "Cheong Alive, Jeonju Kicking"). Of course, it only conveys part of this amazing take at the great pansori 'Simcheongga':



0. 프롤로그 (Prologue) ~03;51
1. 아이고마누라 (Oh, My dear wife!) ~07;28
2. 삼배전대외동지어 (Mr. Sim carries a ramie bag on his left shoulder) ~09;04
3. 아버지듣조시오 (Please hear me out, father) ~14;04
4. 시비따라건너간다 (Go over Following the Maid) ~16;58
5. 중올라간다/네가바로심청이냐 (A buddhist monk passing by rescues Mr. Sim) ~22;37
6. 엇모리볼레로 (Dancing with Eotmori Bolero) ~27;25
7. 비나이다 (Cheong prays for Father) ~30;14
8. 우리는 남경장사 선인으로 (We are sailors doing business with the Chinese) ~32;45
9. 아이고 아버지/허허이게 웬일이여 (Father, do not worry about me - What would I see if you sell yourself to open my eyes?) ~37;22
10. 따라간다 (Cheong follows the sailors) ~41;52
11. 범피중류 (Drifting Along in the Sea) ~44;03
12. 한곳을 당도하니 (Cheong reaches Indang Water) ~50;32
13. 북놀음 (Drumming for Cheong) ~56;05
14. 닻감아라 (The Sailors Sigh song) ~57;24
15. 위의도 장헐시구 (The dragon king is delighted to see Cheong) ~01;01;42
16. ALIVE (Cheong ALIVE) ~01;03;50
17. 이 잔치를 배설키는 (Wishing for reunion with father) ~01;06;49
18. 아이고 내 자식아 (Cheong's father sighs) ~01;09;38
19. 예예 소맹인 아뢰리다 (Mr. Sim Opens His Eyes) ~01;14;39
20. 에필로그 (Epilogue) ~01;18;17

I'm still haunted by the music leading Cheong to the sea, and announcing the janggu drummers.

*

And ever since last spring, I've also been haunted by PARK Jeong-ja's voice and performance in Incheon's Namdong Arts Hall. In this theatrical interpretation of KIM Byeol-ah's "Farewell Forever and Ever, Farewell Forever" ("영영이별 영이별"), she is Princess Jeongsun, the wife of King Danjong, at a turning point in Korean history. About the story of this king that never was and the Korea that never was, see "King Danjong and Korea's Curse".

Seoul Village 2014
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Home, Sweet Home - A One Pyeong Theater, A Pop-up Restaurant

Nowadays, cultural social networking events can occupy whole streets, and over the past 5 years Seoul has experienced its share of flash mobs (for instance last year in Insadong). But the concept doesn't necessarily involve Twitter and anonymous crowds. Believe it or not, social networking existed long before the internet, and inviting people for dinner (IRL, like with - OMG - not-even-facebook friends, and - R U Crious? - totally non-virtual food) can be considered a sort of Social Networking Service 1.0.

Now inviting complete strangers to your place, that's a statement about how you consider social interactions altogether.

Every major city (NYC, London, Paris) has stories of individuals who opened their doors to meet and share over a homecooked meal. For instance in Paris, where an American citizen has been, for decades, receiving once a week about twenty people from all over the world.

In parallel with 'home-like' restaurants where all patrons share the same table, menu, and dinner time, this concept hasn't evolved all the way from 'underground / alternative' to 'mainstream', but to a reasonably 'trendy' status, as people started looking either for sense in an overconnected world, or more trivially for new exciting experiences / exclusive moments. Still now, you can find both 'activist' and 'business' approaches.

"Pop-up restaurants" are the ideal tool to create a buzz or to test a new concept or menu: a one-shot event, an usual location, a happy few trendsetters, and there you go. It sounds a bit cynic, like a pre-launch focus group, but when you open a restaurant you can lose big, and that's a smart way to reassure or convince partners and investors, as well as to deliver the best to your customers. And cuisine-wise, chefs can be more daringly experimental, take a break from daily routine, have and give fun.

Until now, the concept didn't exist in Korea, except maybe for the dinners organized by Cho Tae-kwon at his place with top chefs. For years, this passionate advocate of Korean food has been waging a top-down cultural revolution: from the finest restaurant (my beloved The Gaon) to high end soju (Hwajo), and of course luxury ceramic ware (Cho Tae-kwon being first KwangJuYo's CEO, and second a wise businessman).

A real pop-up restaurant in Seoul? Fellow food lovers Joe McPherson's ZenKimchi.com and Sarah Lee's Seoulinthecity.com decided to take up the gauntlet: with "Back Kitchen-Seoul", they intend "to take Korean ingredients and dishes and re-imagine them - the emphasis is on freshness, flavor, and fun. There is no official charge for the family-style dinner, just a W30,000 suggested donation for ingredients, time and effort. Drinks are extra.*" The venue, a cafe near Anguk-dong (Cafe Gondry, Gye-dong 140-23), is not exactly a private home but the cooks will have a better environment to concentrate on what really matters. No wonder the event is almost already booked up.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Sejongno, someone decided to turn his own apartment into the tiniest stage. Actor SIM Cheol-jong promised to prepare some eggs for the audience to snack during his performance in his improvised "One Pyeong Theater" (1 pyeong = about 3.3 square meters - now that's Home Theater 1.0!). To accomodate visitors, he actually needs 10 pyeong of his 23 pyeong officetel***. Not much, but that's a cathedral compared to "Bien Etre".


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* "Korea's first pop-up restaurant"
** "광화문 한복판에 '한평극장' 관객에 계란도 삶아주겠다"
*** In Byeoksan Gwanghwamun Sidae (광화문시대), that's in Naesu-dong, and after Government buildings and the Jongno Church when you come from Sejongno.