“It’s a dance that’s supposed to symbolize the blooming of flowers and the trees.” Lee said. “It’s one of the more well-known types of dances,” Lee said.
The next performance was the “Talchum,” also known as the Korean mask dance. There are several different types of these dances that are named for areas in Korea – this particular one is named for the Hwanghae Province in North Korea. “I think it was the most difficult [dance],” Lee said. “Not because the choreography was difficult, it’s just that with the costumes on and with the masks on.” A big part of Korean culture is modern music and dance, which is why there are two K-pop groups in the club. The first group who performed, 3Minute, is composed of women from the club who made their debut performance. Swetha Popuri is not of Korean descent, but joined because she is a fan of the culture; particularly K-pop. “My sister’s friend got me into Korean music and from there, everything went downhill,” Popuri said as she laughed. Quarter Past Noona, or QPN, caused a crowd frenzy as they make their way to the stage. The male dance team has made a name for themselves among the group due to their mix of hilarious and awe-inspiring dance moves paired with “cutesy girl songs,” freshman officer Jonathan Kang said. “It’s like the girls are dancing more serious and it’s a contrast— the guys go up there and act cute out of nowhere, doing the opposite of what the girls are doing,” Kang said. “It’s a comedic factor; we want to get the crowd going and laughing.” Kim ended the festivities with a personal monologue discussing struggling with her identity as a Korean-American.“I was just really confused with my identity,” Kim said. “I didn’t know if I was Korean or American. My first speaking language was Korean, it was the first thing I learned how to read and write.”
Kim was born in Guam and moved to the U.S. seven years ago, she said.
“I became better at English, I became better at the grammar and whatever, and then I lost my Korean side.” She joined the club as a freshman four years ago when it was still gaining formal club status through the Associated Students. Before KSA was recognized as a formal club, they had to fight for a position in the Ethnic Student Center, Kim said. Kim said the KSA club meetings are held every Wednesday at 5 p.m., welcoming new members at Viking Union room 565. The night ended with a special nanta drum performance, which is a modern form of the percussion performance samul nori. To mark the official end of the evening though, the entire KSA ascended to the stage to dance and laughed together as the closing music from Saturday Night Live played.