Dance company performs to end Korea Week
Published Dec. 7, 2004
The Cho Heung Dong Dance Company presented traditional Korean dances in what the concert's program referred to as "keeping the traditional forms intact while expressing individual and modernistic sensibility."
Jesse Auditorium technical manager John Murray said between 450 and 500 people attended the performance.
The program consisted of a series of dances, including the Chanyong, or Dance of Fans, P'ungmulnori, or The Farmer's Dance, and T'aep' yongmu, or Dance of Peace.
The function capped off Korea Week, a weeklong festival celebrating Korean culture that began Dec. 1 and ended Monday night.
The dance recital followed Korean Movie Day, Taste of Korea and a Korean War photo presentation.
The Asian Affairs Center held the program in cooperation with The Korean Society. Jin yon Kim, a member of The Korean Society, said the Cho Heung Dong Dance Company traveled from Korea and stopped in Chicago, and will continue on to perform in Buffalo, N.Y., and St. Louis.
Ethan and Marcia Balkin attended. Marcia Balkin, who tutors Korean children, was invited with her husband to see the dance by one of the families for whom she tutors. Ethan Balkin said he intended to "experience something from another country and to have a good time."
The dance featured several female dancers who glided across Jesse Auditorium's stage. Dressed in colorful garb and with ornate hair fixtures, the troupe danced to melodic and mesmerizing music in a well-choreographed and synchronized routine.
Cho Heung Dong, one of the few male Korean dancers, has been dancing for 50 years, according to the event program guide. He began at the age of 9, and since then he has won many honors, including the Choreographer Prize at the Korean Dance Festival in 1981.
According to the Asian Affairs Center Web site, the center has a mandate to build upon MU's Asian programs, university and alumni linkages, and teaching and research connections in the region to benefit citizens, government entities and businesses in Missouri.