In May of last year, Johnnie, his sister, and I spent a day at the Korean Folk Village. I blogged about it here and here. The Korean Folk Village is near Suwon and is a living history museum that highlights Korea’s past and traditional folk culture. There are over 250 traditional houses and buildings, arenas for performances, souvenir shops and restaurants, and gardens all in a beautiful outdoor environment. It’s a great place to experience traditional Korea so I took my mom and aunt there for a visit.
Many of the buildings were getting their roofs re-thatched. We were careful not to get our clothes dirty 🙂
One of the performances to watch at the Folk Village is a traditional Korean wedding ceremony. The bride’s beautifully embroidered outfit is my favorite part. It is a very involved ceremony with a lot of standing, bowing, and kneeling.
Another performance is the Equestrian Feats which is really a show of balance and strength. The horses galloped around the small circular arena while the performers on their backs hung off the sides of the saddle, did handstands, and shot arrows.
Acrobatics on a Tight-Rope is a fun performance to watch. The old performer had incredible balance, flexibility and a crotch of steel. He was quick and graceful, holding only a large fan for balance.
The final performance to see is the Farmer’s Dance. This dance is one of the oldest dance forms in Korea and was traditionally performed during planting and harvesting, stemming from early records of farmers working to the beat of percussion instruments. It is characterized by fast-paced music and gravity-defying acrobatic movements. Dancers have long white streamers attached to their hats which they twirl in beat with the music.
I took some video of the dancing and the horse performances. You can watch it below or on YouTube.
