What is Korean Culture Night?

Korean Culture Night (KCN) is an annual stage production hosted by UCLA Hanoolim and presented on the UCLA campus. For nearly 20 years, this event has been educating UCLA students and the Los Angeles community about Korean and Korean American culture through the performing arts. Our goal is to raise cultural awareness, promote multiculturalism, and provide a central annual event where students and members of the local community can converge and celebrate the achievements of the Korean people.

The two to three-hour show usually features live skits, traditional drumming and dance, martial arts, video documentaries and shorts, and modern dance and singing, all tied together by a common theme, which changes every year. These themes range from past and present social and political issues to aspects of traditional and modern culture. It is the common goal of these themes to reflect upon not only student perspectives, but also American society.

The production is led by UCLA Hanoolim, which is a campus student organization founded to promote the awareness of Korean culture. Students work on the production throughout the school year, writing, designing, and choreographing original material. The work culminates in a grand performance in Spring, with almost 2000 attendees. Korean Culture Night remains the single largest student project at UCLA that brings together a diverse group of Korean students to collaborate and combine their skills into one cohesive product. Furthermore, KCN has grown to become the most well-received Korean student-run production in the nation.


The Theme and Format

Korean Culture Night is producing an original, full-length musical for the 2005 show. The story in this musical will be based upon a traditional Korean folktale and will integrate many of the different types of performances that have been featured in previous years.

The format of the musical is one that provides almost endless possibilities in artistic expression on the stage. Musicals are a natural combination of song, dance, drama, and stunning visuals. With these elements, musicals easily reach the inner depths of the human heart. It is because of this that the musical was chosen as this year's format, as we hope to appeal to a broad audience.