Korean Arts Performance Offers Flavor of Culture

Children banged their drums, let loose with high kicks and gently fan-danced Thursday at Welby Way Elementary School as they performed traditional Korean song, martial arts and dance to a packed auditorium.

The show was organized by Korean American parents and performed by their children to teach non-Korean students about the culture.

“I wanted to pay something back,” said Mehyang Hanks, whose three children have attended the school. “I wanted to show what real Korean culture is.”

The children performed for parents during a fund-raiser in March that raised $2,000, which will be donated to the school for library books and to help pay for a fifth-grade field trip to Washington, D.C., Hanks said.

About 55 Korean American students practiced at least once a week since November, and preparing for the shows helped them form new friendships, Hanks said.

“They didn’t know each other as Koreans,” said Hanks, of West Hills. “They got very friendly.” For 10-year-old Catherine Suh, learning traditional dances was a welcome change of pace.

“I’m like a tomboy,” Catherine said. “I’m not used to makeup and dresses. I found it fun to learn about my heritage--and my mom excused me from practicing the piano and violin so much.”

Eleven-year-old Brian Kim said he practiced playing the drums for three months.

“It’s really fun and tiring,” he said. “I wanted to learn how Koreans played instruments a long time ago.”

Though occasionally rambunctious, students in the audience were riveted when the children took the stage. Adults were impressed too.

“It was spectacular,” said Molly Schroeder, the school’s magnet coordinator. “We see these children on the playground and in the classroom, and now we had the opportunity to see them performing within their own culture.”