For the past three months, the second floor of Portland State’s Broadway Housing Building has been a preparation site for a group of student volunteers.
Some dance in front of tall windows, refining their choreographed movements with tenacity and concentration. Others sit behind 10-gallon buckets, rhythmically beating them with drumsticks. Some work independently on skits and runway walking.
For the past three months, the second floor of Portland State’s Broadway Housing Building has been a preparation site for a group of student volunteers.
Some dance in front of tall windows, refining their choreographed movements with tenacity and concentration. Others sit behind 10-gallon buckets, rhythmically beating them with drumsticks. Some work independently on skits and runway walking.
For passersby, these activities might seem purely recreational, but the students involved have a larger goal in mind.
PSU’s Korean Student Association will present their seventh annual Korea Night event Saturday, Feb. 25, in the third-floor Smith Ballroom. Korea Night 2012 is organized by the KSA’s 80 volunteers and showcases different aspects of Korean culture. The event features “an evening of Korean food and showcase of traditional and contemporary Korean cultural entertainment.”
The festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. with a Korean-style dinner prepared by Koi Fusion, to be followed by 11 different performances, including taekwondo, comedy skits, a fan dance, nanta (contemporary drumming using household utensils), a spoken-word performance and a show by dance group B.O.K.
President of the Korean Student Association Bona Kim, an international relations sophomore, explained that this year’s Korea Night is intended to have an educational impact.
“This event was meant for entertainment, but this year, because of the feedback we received from the audience last year, it will also be educational,” Kim said. “Most people wrote that they enjoyed the event but still didn’t know much about Korea, so for this Korea Night, each performance will be preceeded by a video about some aspect of Korean history.”
Attendees will also be able to read a Korean history timeline encircling the room.
Korea Night is put on every year for club members, the Korean community in Portland and anyone else interested in learning about Korean culture.
“So many people are so interested in Korea that we have people from different cultures here helping put on this event,” said Tori Ramsdell, KSA public relations officer. “There are many clubs here at PSU, and some are also involved with Korea Night. We help each other out.”
Year after year, Korea Night is the KSA’s biggest event.
“Korea Night is the culminating event for our club because it encompasses our club goal,” Ramsdell said. “To encourage understanding between Korean students and non-Korean students—that’s what we’re all about.”
Event planning began last summer, and the different groups that will be performing have been practicing ever since. The B.O.K group, for instance, has been getting together since November to memorize their routines.
“I know this year our leaders and everyone involved has worked harder than ever,” said Joanne Marie Coleman, a Japanese language senior who dances in the B.O.K group. “Everybody is working really hard to make things perfect.”
The 25 students involved with B.O.K practice four days a week, often until 1 or 2 a.m. It takes a long time to learn eight choreographed songs.
“For me, being involved in these groups is an experience to learn more about my own culture because, growing up, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to do so,” said psychology senior Russell Truman, one of the choreographers and leaders of the B.O.K dance group. He has been involved with Korea Night for two years.
“Korea is famous for its entertainment,” Kim said. “We want to emphasize, though, that it’s not just pop culture. We also have traditions and history that we’d like to share with everyone.”
