The Korean connection

Seung Ah performs at a public storytelling event in pre-pandemic times

South Korea has a rich, mystical tradition in storytelling. Traditional stories on love and romance were sung and performed by shamans and pansori singers who utilise drums as a form of musical storytelling (‘pan' means ‘open space'; ‘sori' translates to song in Korean). The open-air performance tradition is referred to in the term. These storytelling rituals helped introduce folktales to its people.

With our ongoing fascination for K-dramas, viewers in India have been introduced to many of these stories. Viewers enjoy unwinding with a feel-good K-drama, being lost in plots that focus on relationships, in the backdrop of Korea's modern society that is reminiscent of scenarios in their own set-ups.

This Sunday, acclaimed storyteller Seung Ah Kim will perform two Korean tales in a virtual event titled Many Faces of Korean Storytelling: Love Stories from Korea. Seung Ah reveals, "One story is the popular folktale of Princess Bari who was an abandoned princess, and a well-known personality in Korea. The second one is about Chunhyang, a good-looking girl. The former story was told by shamans, the latter by pansori singers. These stories act as mirrors for people where they can laugh and cry along, and also connect with their emotional sides."

Seung Ah Kim

In 2017, Seung Ah Kim started the K-Storytelling World Tour Project to popularise storytelling. Having performed across the globe, she also won the award as a cultural storytelling ambassador at the Arirang Korea Awards in 2019. When we ask her about why Indians are hooked on K-dramas, especially during the lockdown, she explains that India, like Korea, is a male-dominated society. "However, Korean women have begun to overcome patriarchal barriers, and Indian women are interested in this transformation. Like us, you are warm, family-oriented people. In Korea, five of the 12 stories are performed. I have chosen two romantic stories for this Sunday."

Seung Ah's session will also emphasise self-love. "My performances will hopefully help people heal. I want to be a bridge between people's feelings and reality, which may not always be rosy. Princess Chunhyang is the goddess of beauty. However, we must appreciate the beauty that is inside us," she says.

On: September 26
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 455