Summer in Sinchon: Dancing, Singing and Sliding

It's been a season or two since I dropped by the Sinchon area. I got acquainted with this neighborhood during my early years in Seoul when tennis friends brought me to Sinchon for lunch after playing at the tennis courts of Sogang University, a Jesuit-run university that was visited by Pope Francis last year. 

This area around the Sinchon Station of Line 2 is popular to students since this is near some universities like Yonsei, Ewha Womans, Sogang, and Hong-ik. And this weekend, the Seodaemun District has set up a water slide right in the middle of the Yonsei-ro (Yonsei Street), which they closed down to make way for fun and performances.

The idea was to provide respite from this summer heat, and this water slide, which stretched from the first Starbucks across Nike Court until the second Starbucks in the neighborhood, was filled with kids and adults in swimwear, sunblock and inflatables, who all happily found a way to cool down, right in the middle of the street!

And while those having fun on the slide were busy soaking, those on 'dry land' were entertained by selected Korean non-verbal and musical performances, namely, The Painters: Hero, Fanta-Stick, Sa-Choom, and Nanta, which I have all seen before courtesy of my complimentary tickets from the Korea Tourism Organization.

The Painters: Hero
Last year, I recommended to my friend Vanji to bring her kids to watch The Painters: Hero because I was sure Ethan and Patrick would enjoy it. And they did! Today, those watching a segment performance of this show enjoyed as well. Here's a short clip. Today's performance was just a teaser where they featured their 'Michael Jackson' painting. During their regular performances, they have charcoal, painter on water, oil and other media that they use to create these interesting art pieces on stage. With music and digital images as background on stage, the whole experience of watching this type of performance is unique. If you happen to watch this show, try to volunteer up the stage. It should be worth your while.

Fanta-Stick
The musicians and drummers of Fanta-Stick also took turns in drumming up excitement among the crowd. This performance is promoted as a live 'gugak' musical. 'Gugak' means traditional Korean music, but if you watch the performance, you'd also hear recorded contemporary and modern music. It's a story about a man and a woman banished from the heavens for not having been able to take care of a sacred drum and flute, with the latter ending up lost and later found in a car repair shop somewhere in Seoul. This show is a mix of traditional music, dancing and slapstick comedy. It was actually fun taking photographs today of Fanta-Stick performers; the showmanship was there, and so was the synchronized movements and energy.

Sa-Choom
I have watched Sa-Choom early this year, and their short performance today was just a segment of their 85-minute dance musical with about 12 dancers. Right in the middle of Sinchon, they wowed the crowd especially with the bboy stunts and a mix of modern jazz, tango, and perhaps a few steps from Dancing 9 and some k-pop girl bands. Sa-Choom's theater is at Jongno, below the VIPS buffet restaurant, where you can always grab dinner before you go down to watch it. The show is mixed with some mime, slapstick comedy sketch and the required audience participation. Today, the performers went down from the stage and tried to engage the crowd on dry land. Luckily, they left the kids alone who were on the pool with their inflatables. 

Nanta
And as the last to perform, the cooks of Nanta with all their vegetable-chopping in their kitchen reminded everyone that it was probably time for dinner. Ha-ha-ha!  Anyone who's into cooking would be able to relate to Nanta because everything in the kitchen comes to life with all these cooks: the pans, the utensils, the vegetables, seasonings and those very sharp knives!  Nanta's venues are actually in Myeongdong and at Chungjeongno Station.  If you're staying at Myeongdong, it's the most convenient venue for you; although the performances at Chungjeongno Station usually have Rush Ticket discounts. Nanta is probably the most popular of all the Korean performances with everyone I know wanting to see this show in Seoul.

And as for those standing in line for their turn, I wondered how long it actually took for one to wait until its time to swoosh down the slide with the help of an inflatable, running water, and gravity. But no matter how long the wait was, from the looks on their faces, it was worth the wait and the entrance fee.

If A Picture Paints A Thousand Words: "The Painters: Hero"

                   (My The Painters: Hero ticket courtesy of 
                         the Korea Tourism Organization)

According to the band Bread, a picture should paint a thousand words. But at 'The Painters: Hero' show, a picture paints, not just a thousand words, but also applause, laughter, oohs and aahs.

This show is a performance art, literally. Four guys creating works of art on the stage with all the audience members watching and sometimes participating.

On the first few minutes of the show, I thought that perhaps my friends who have attended painting classes would be able to appreciate this performance more than I would. After all, I didn't actually excel at drawing when I was in grade school. I'd rather write or sing than draw. 😂

I have watched a lot of performances in Seoul over the years; from non-verbal performances, to musicales to Korean traditional music, gugak, opera, and ballet. But this one was a novelty: a show that lets the audience share the experience of the artists on stage in bringing works of art to life, and with dancing and funny antics at that!

               (At the end of the show, the audience can 
                      take photos of the actors on stage)

That night, courtesy of the K-Performance Supporters team of the Korea Tourism Organization, I joined an audience consisting mostly of Chinese tourists and a few locals, and heard for myself that the loudest laughter in the crowd was not from the adults, but from the kids! Yes, this show is not only for the grownups, but I think with all the slapstick and the digital spectacle onstage, the kids enjoyed it more!

The show featured popular figures in the sketches and drawings so that the audience would immediately recognize them. I would have wanted to enumerate the popular profiles they featured on the show on this blog, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for you. You'd know who or what they are when you see the completed work on stage.

               (The audience taking photos of the 

                       stage after the show)

There's charcoal, paint on water, oil, and other media they use to create these interesting art pieces on stage. With music and background digital images on stage, the whole experience makes it especially unique. And there are also sections for audience participation. If you're picked, the actors will turn you into an artist on stage.

A very impressive part of the show was the drawing of the three warriors in charcoal on three separate boards with an ending completed by a digital fortress flashed on stage. Those were really imposing drawings. I wonder what they do with those drawings after the show?

But my favorite was the mesmerizing sketch of stars with the sea and a boat. Was it sand art? The unique experience of this section was that the whole theater was dimmed and what everyone saw on stage was the glowing canvas on which two performers created the whole scenery with green flash lights. And the best part? This number was performed to Paloma Faith's charming song, Stargazer. I guess, since the work of art was about stars, the director decided to have the song Stargazer, and I think from now on, every time I hear this song, I would remember this show.

"The Painters: Hero" actually have five teams named after Chaplin, Jackson, Superman, Beethoven and Picasso. These teams take turns in performing the 80-minute show.

              (The Picasso Team at the autograph session)

That night, it was the new Picasso team that performed. I spoke with the actors after their performance and told them it was my first time to watch them and I was impressed. 

So, if you also want to be impressed with these artists on stage who could dance, do mime and slapstick on stage while creating works of art, do visit their website below and set a date to watch it:

http://thepainters.co.kr/

The venue is the Seoul Theater, which is accessible from Exit 14 of Jongno 3-ga Station, and is actually a good stroll from Insadong. The ticket box is on the first floor, but the performance venue is on the 5th floor. You need to take the escalator all the way up. There are staff members who will direct you to the venue.

After the performance, you can actually walk down (opposite direction from Jongno 3-ga Station) to the Cheonggye Stream, which is just a couple of minutes by foot from the venue.

#performanceart #painting #artists #painterhero #Kdrama #Koreandrama #picasso #palomafaith #stargazer