nongak (korea)

amazing the connections that pop up when working on this project
finding youtube examples of songlines magazine 50 rhythms of the world
i thought i had not experienced nongak in any form
as described by songlines here
nongak is the energetic drum-led farmers music of korea
which is linked to shamanic ceremonies and traditionally played at celebrations and harvest
it's been transformed into an exhilarating performance art by kim duk soo
the four percussion instruments involved are -
the changgo (hourglass drum) puk (barrel drum) and a small and large gong
while playing the musicians do acrobatic dancing and spin ribbons on their hats
but then i recalled seeing a korean group that particularly impressed me at womadelaide a few years ago
i could not remember the name but thanks to the power of google
a search through some archive material on womad revealed all
the group's name is dulsori and they performed twice in 2005
i saw both performances and was particularly impressed with their athleticism and musical skill
they also had a sense of humour and worked very well with their audience
the opening part of their show featured an artist painting on a huge piece of cloth
i was not sure of their relationship to the nongak style under the spotlight here
chances are they could be to nongak as the sex pistols are to english folk music
but even more digging revealed an entry by a fellow blogspot contributor josy-diary.blogspot.com
seems she saw them in concert in singapore and opened their concert with a piece called samul nori
she also did some research and quoted the following from wiki
samul nori originates from nong-ak, consisting of music, acrobatics, folk dance, and rituals
and was performed in villages to wish and celebrate a good harvest
nongak is steeped in traditional animism and shamanism, but also shows influences from buddhism
good enough for me - the group dulsori do represent the rhythm known as nongak
unfortunately they are not well represented on youtube
apart from a bunch of amateur videos taken by fans mostly at womad shows around the world
the best i could find is the brief one here filmed at a roots music festival in holland
it does convey the energy of the group - and that most of them impressively are female
(28 of 50)