Chennai briefly stepped away from the Hallyu wave as South Korea’s Ulsan Metropolitan Dance Company’s 47-member dance crew enthralled the audience to a night of meditative dance and music performances at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall.
This was to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and South Korea. Adorning colourful traditional Korean ensembles, artistes displayed nimble and delicate dance performances that were complemented by reflective musical recital using traditional Korean folk instruments.
Ulsan Metropolitan Dance Company was established back in 2000 to contributing to the conservation of traditional Korean dance. In particular, the company has a traditional music band that performs musical pieces using instruments.
The Consul General to the Korean consulate in Chennai, Chang-nyun Kim, Ulsan City’s deputy mayor Jeong-wook SUH, and Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Ministry of Information and Technology and Digital Services, Tamil Nadu were present at the event.
The Consul general remarked, “Tamil Nadu has been a gateway to Korean investment in India. Hyundai, Samsung, and Kia have chosen Chennai as their investment destination due to its geographical advantages and contribution to the development of Tamil Nadu.The Korean community in Chennai is the biggest of all expat communities. Most transformational changes have taken place in people to people and personal exchanges . The Korean wave has captured the imagination of Indian viewers. K pop, K drama and K food have become increasingly popular with Indian youngsters,” he said.
An ornate background blanketed the stage. Trees resembling Korean cherry blossoms framed the stage where artistes sang and danced with unwavering grace, poise, and lyricism.
As the night commenced, Jeong-wook SUH, Ulsan city’s deputy mayor pointed out a curious similarity between Chennai and Ulsan. He said that Chennai and Ulsan both are located at the South East region of India and Korea respectively. This means that both countries have many industrial similarities.
The musical evening saw a creative dance performance which is traditionally performed in the king’s garden. A Korean pagan song of peace was performed using a Korean wood wind instrument stood out amongst all the displays for its quiet grace and lyricism. As the evening came to a close, all performers shone brilliantly under the spotlight.
