Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THEATRE & DANCE
Seoul's thriving theatre scene is based mainly around Daehangno, where more than 50
small theatres put on everything from rock musicals and satirical plays to opera and transla-
tions of Western classics. Nearly all shows are in Korean. More accessible are the many
nonverbal shows such as
Nanta
and
Jump
.
Elegant court dances, accompanied by an orchestra and dating back 600 years, are performed
in front of Jongmyo on the irst Sunday of every May.
Korean folk dances include dynamic
seungmu
(drum dances), the satirical and energetic
talchum
(mask dances) and solo improvisational
salpuri
(shamanist dances). Most popular
are
samullori
dance troupes, who perform in brightly coloured traditional clothing, twirling
a long tassel from a cap on their heads at the same time as they dance and beat a drum or
gong.
