Ancient Korean Folk Opera Lives on

Sori Maru, a pansori club, performs outside Dadamaeddeul Tea House in Seoul, South Korea. Pansori is a type of traditional Korean folk opera that tells a themed story. It typically features two musicians – a singer (‘sorikkun’) and a drummer (‘gosu’). The singer contributes his or her voice and body language, while the drummer adds rhythm and shouts of encouragement to the performance. Some of Sori Maru’s performers sang about how human life is short, while others later led the crowd in a variation of “Arirang,” a famous Korean folk song that is widely considered South Korea’s unofficial national anthem.

Photo essay by Taylor Ha & Jessica Chin