Familiar Gugak K-Pop hits, ranging from BTS’s ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears’ to ‘Golden’ from the film ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters,’ are set to captivate audiences through traditional Korean instrument melodies.
The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (Director Lee Hae-don) will host ‘Fusion Gugak – The Excitement of Tradition, The Style of Modernity’ at the center’s Ari Hall on October 30 at 7 PM. This event marks the third and final performance in the ‘Discovering Gugak (Poster)’ series, which introduces traditional Korean music and dance.
This stage reinterprets traditional music, dance, and song with a modern sensibility. The program bridges traditional and popular music by combining saenghwang, piri, haegeum, daegum, and 25-string gayageum with piano and synthesizer.
The K-Pop medley features traditional instrument performances of BTS’s ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears,’ Girls’ Generation’s ‘Gee,’ Red Velvet’s ‘Ice Cream Cake,’ IU’s ‘Love Wins All,’ and ‘Golden’ from ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters.’
Audiences will also enjoy Piazzolla’s ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Libertango,’ a 25-string gayageum duet of ‘Commuting Train,’ ‘When I Leave,’ ‘Sangju Arirang,’ and ‘Beautiful Country.’
The creative dance pieces ‘Ang, Flying Beyond the Frame’ and ‘Danjang’ modernly reinterpret the lines and movements of traditional dance.
Performers for this event include Jung Jung-min (saenghwang, piri), Ahn Jae-sook (haegeum), Song Eun-young (daegum), Chang Kyung-sun and Lee Jung-hwa (25-string gayageum), Park Sun-young (piano, synthesizer), Han Bo-ra and Jung Da-eun (dance), Shim Hyun-seong (vocals), and Song Min-seop (buk, janggu, ggwaenggwari).
Dancer Jung Da-eun, who appeared in the 98th Academy Awards ‘Golden’ prologue, also served as the cultural advisor and choreographer for this performance. She holds a Bachelor’s in Dance from Ewha Womans University and a Master’s in Dance from UCLA, and currently serves as an assistant professor of dance at UC Riverside. She has received support from Jacob’s Pillow and the Korea Foundation, along with the 2023 NEFA National Dance Project production grant and the California Arts Council individual artist fellowship.
This year, she received the LA Independent Master Artists Project grant and choreographed the opening dance for KCON LA 2026.
Director Lee Hae-don stated, “We hope audiences will experience both the tradition and present of Korean culture through diverse genres ranging from familiar K-Pop to Arirang, traditional dance, and creative Gugak.”
Advance reservations can be made on the cultural center website (kccla.org).
