Shall We Dance?

Traditional music is boring? Sleepy? No!

In a new attempt to modernize traditional music, various dances such as traditional fan dancing, break dancing, ballet, and the tango will be performed to the tune of traditional musical instruments. A youth music concert by the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra titled “Gugak Jjang! Fun Jjang! Shall We Dance?” will be held in the Grand Theater at the Sejong Center at 7:30 p.m. August 17.

Stage changes and splendid lighting, rare in traditional music concerts, will be attempted in this concert where Park Jeong-hwan, an actor who played the Gonggil character in “Yi,” the original play which the movie “The King’s Man” was based on, will give explanations.

Traditional music and traditional dance in harmony will be staged in the beautiful fan dances of the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Group to the Jongmyo Jeryeak, which was registered as a world cultural heritage treasure.

“Expression,” a B-boy group, will perform break dance to the tune of Canon in D played in Gayageum, which was recently used for a commercial. “Bustle,” a percussion group, will continue the concert with a percussion performance.

It also includes “Passion,” a traditional orchestral piece with leading mime artist Yu Jin-gyu’s mime performance, a traditional music version of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” performed by Seoul WISE Ballet, and passionate tango and tap dances.

A Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra spokesperson said, “We attempted to attract a youth audience to traditional music with the theme of “fun traditional music” last year. This year, we plan to upgrade it as ‘jjang (number one).’ You will see the look of the 21st Century traditional music in pursuit of constant change and progress.” Tickets are 10,000 and 20,000 won. For inquires, call 02-399-1114.

raphy@donga.com