Ashraf AboArafe
‘K-Movement’, a hybrid Korea culture week is set to kick off on Saturday, May 18, at the Cairo Opera House, at 7:30PM.
This year’s edition of the Korea Culture Week will mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Cultural Center in Egypt. Throughout the week which will span from 18th to 24th May, audience will be able to enjoy and explore glimpses of South Korea’s best dance, music, and arts.
The opening ceremony will take place at the Open-Air theatre where a performance titled ‘Ulsuu, Earth,’ will showcase various dances from different countries expressed by B-Boying techniques and Modern Dance styles. Inspired by diverse dance genres that blend traditional and contemporary dances, Goblin Party, a Korean popular modern dance group will share the stage with Gamblerz Crew, Korean b-boy crew.
With a firm belief that dance is a universal language that transcends cultures and languages, the two groups enjoy travelling around the world to pursue their passion for learning new styles of dance.
Influenced by a diverse range of world-class dances, they invent their own dance styles. Street dancers Gamblerz Crew and modern dancers Goblin Party are communicating with domestic and international audiences through different dance styles but with Korean spirit.
The concert will showcase diverse styles of dances like Egyptian Tutting Dance, mostly inspired from ancient Egyptian civilization. The performances will also include romantic ‘Marinera’ performed by couples in Peru; and the powerful ‘’Haka ” of the Maori people from New Zealand.
Founded in 2007, Goblin Party is comprised of artists who can both choreograph and dance. Since its foundation in 2002, Gamblerz Crew has achieved multiple victories at Battle of the Year, one of the world’s top four b-boying competitions held in Germany.
On the sideline of the concert, an exhibition will be held for Korea’s traditional mask dance and traditional masks, which are registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022. Audience will be able to explore Korean traditional masks and their rich history.
As well, the Korean Cultural Center will organize interactive workshops where participants can create their own masks, supervised by 2 Korean instructors.
Korean Traditional Mask Dance ‘Talchum’, is a unique art technique that combines Korean history, tradition, faith, and folk elements. Korea’s Talchum is a comprehensive artistic performance that encompasses dance, singing, and theatre. Dancers wear masks of people, ghosts, and animals and exchange cheers with the audience while satirizing and criticizing the world, making for a humorous and unique performance. Nowadays, it is considered a long-standing part of folk culture and is performed in many areas throughout Korea.
The closing ceremony of the ‘K-Movement’ week promises to be a vibrant and captivating featuring the K-Pop World Festival, an annual K-pop talent competition organized by South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, KBS, and Korea’s overseas diplomatic missions.
The festival will be held in the Opera House’s Open-Air Theatre on May 24th and will feature a preliminary qualification round, where aspiring K-Pop Egyptian enthusiasts could have a chance to showcase their talents and compete for a spot in K-pop World Festival finals in Korea Changwon
