| Folk Arts - Master Artist - Yong-Kil Kang
Yong Kil Kang is a master Samul Nori dancer. He learned traditional Korean dance at an early age from the master practitioner of the Korean village of his childhood. Kang’s education and training in Samul Nori continued when he studied under professor Jung Soo Kim at Mok Po University in Korea. Kang brought Samul Nori to the Northwest in the early 1980s when he and other community members started the Mansung Samul Nori Group. For years now the group has been known as one of the region’s best Asian performance groups. Kang lives in Lakewood, WA where he shares Korean traditions with the community.
Samul Nori developed from Poongmul Nori, a Korean harvest dance. A four-part percussion accompanies the dance, using the Changgo, the Kwanggori, the Jing, and the Book as instruments. These four parts represent rain, thunder, sun, and the moon. This highly rhythmic dance incorporates intricate breathing (called hohup), handwork (ku-kung), and footwork (ki-tak). Its performance requires a keen ear for rhythm and stamina to endure long practice sessions. Samul Nori contains Buddhist influences and Kang, a Buddhist priest, links the dance with spiritual disciplines. Kang strives to teach and attain a spiritual balance through the body movements that accompany the drumming. Samul Nori is, of course, meant to entertain as well.
As a 1998 recipient of a Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant, Kang taught Jih Ye Kim Samul Nori dance and performance. Kim learned of Kang’s Samul Nori virtuosity through the Korean community in the Tacoma-Seattle area when Kang offered free lessons to the public. Similar to what Kang has done, Kim hopes to teach younger generations of Korean-Americans Samul Nori. She would like to see this dance become a permanent part of the Korean-American community.
In 2001 Lilia Son was Kang’s Samul Nori apprentice. Son began Samul Nori dancing in elementary school in Korea and when she moved to the United States, she studied under Kang and exhibited great talent and passion for it. During the apprenticeship, Son learned the elements of rhythm, order and movement. She also learned Sangmo, a dance using a 7 foot tail, and to play the Jang Go, a traditional Korean drum.
After receiving a 2005 Apprenticeship grant, Kang taught Aram Lee Samul Nori dance. Lee, just thirteen years-old at the time of his apprenticeship, showed the drive needed to master this art form. Like many of Kang’s previous apprentices Lee has a strong desire to pass on Samul Nori to others.
In 2008, Kang has again been selected as the recipient of an Apprenticeship grant. He will work with Jein (Jane) Lee, who became inspired to learn Samul Nori from seeing it performed at the Puget Sound Multicultural Festival and the Korean Independence Day Ceremony in Tacoma. Lee takes great pride in her Korean heritage and hopes that it can spread, through performance, to her friends, classmates, and family. | |||
