I am the fan dancer...

Saturday officially started monsoon season here with steady rain all day, cancelling plans to spend the weekend camping on an island beach and touring a salt farm on said island.  Hopefully the opportunity will come to go to that or any of the many islands South Korea has to offer.  Plan B for the rainy weekend was to meet my friend Kevin for a free concert of traditional Korean music in a park/pavilion type place. 

He had seen a sign for the concert a week earlier, but wasn't completely sure of what to expect since his Korean language skills are getting better but still far from fluent.  Well it turns out he read most of the sign right and the show started with Korean drums....

I wish I could of gotten closer to get a better shot of the instruments, they were really cool.    The sound echos a little in the video but they were really good, right on beat.  All the grannies in the front row were really getting into it!

Next up was a female fan dancer dressed in a 한복, or hanbok, which is a traditional gown (I don't know too much about the meaning behind the dancing and the clothing but it was really pretty).  Unfortunately I didn't have my good camera so the pictures are blurry...

I should mention that Kevin and I were the only foreigners in the place, or the only westerners at least.  I arrived a few minutes late and I guess at the beginning before the drums started, the announcer had Kevin stand up and introduce himself.  Then when the dancer finished Kevin was called up to take a picture with her.  That was just the beginning...

Next, some of the instruments were brought back out on stage.  Kevin and I were called up along with 4 others from the audience.  Kevin got one of the bigger drums and I had the loud, clangy sounding instrument that was somewhat similar to a cymbal.  The announcer taught us a series of beats, then taught the audience a chant and then we all played and sang together. 

After that the dancer came back out and did another routine in a different outfit, even more beautiful than before.  And following that, Kev and I were once again called up to the front (everyone was enjoying the hell out of these foreigners).  This time we each got a fan in one hand and bells with ribbons for the other hand.  The dancer had several layers of robes on and next thing I know I'm wearing one...

When we finished learning all the steps and performed the routine one last time the audience voted.  Kevin and I did not realize we were in the dance contest until everyone cheered the most for me and I was given my prize- a paper fan!

A disappointing rainy weekend turned into a great experience!