[KS] KSR 1999-10: _The Halla Huhm Dance Collection: An Inventory and

Stephen Epstein Stephen.Epstein at vuw.ac.nz
Thu Nov 11 16:59:05 EST 1999


_The Halla Huhm Dance Collection:  An Inventory and Finding Aid_, ed. Judy
Van Zile.  Honolulu:  Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawaii,
1998.  181 pp.

Reviewed by Michael Reinschmidt
Academia Koreana

[This review first appeared in _Acta Koreana_ 2 (1999): 164-67.  _Acta
Koreana_ is published by Academia Koreana of Keimyung University.]


       In this book, a team of researchers, collectors and staff under the
leadership of Judy Van Zile has provided a highly organized compilation of
materials.  It was Van Zile's goal to provide a broad access to a unique
collection of documentary ephemera on Korean dance and the personal
achievements of dancer Halla Pai Huhm.  But the compilation, whose
production was commendably supported by several foundations, aims at more
than simply inventorying documents and visuals.  It is an important step
towards safeguarding and aiding future studies to contextualize innumerable
aspects of Korean dance in connection with the name of Halla Huhm -- and
her unusual life circumstances -- in its multiregional cultural context.

       Huhm was born in 1922 in Pusan but five years later her family left
Korea for Japan during the Japanese colonial period.  She received her
first training in dance from a cousin who had studied not only Korean dance
but ballet and modern European dance as well.  During World War II, Huhm
traveled between Korea and Japan and studied Home Economics in Tokyo.  She
then moved to Hawaii in 1949 following her marriage to a Korean American
serviceman.  Despite her exposure to European trends, Huhm's relative
isolation from her homeland is considered by some experts to be part of the
reason she was so painstaking in preserving the stylistic accuracy of
Korean dance forms in both her teaching and performance (p.2).  Such keen
authenticity apparently also appealed to her fellow immigrants in Hawaii
who were also looking for means of maintaining their Korean identity.  Her
clear sense of her own cultural roots, however, did not prevent her active
involvement with other Asian dance forms, which she even included in her
own dance studio recitals.

       Huhm became widely sought after as a performer and instructor in
Hawaii and Korea, and her artistic quality earned her appointments and
honors at universities in both countries.  As a person, Halla Huhm stood
out as a symbol for etiquette, discipline, advocacy of Korean culture, but
mostly for generosity.  She never asked for performance fees, and "if an
event would contribute to knowledge about Korean culture and further
worthwhile causes, those were sufficient reasons to perform" (p.6).  Her
selfless attitude and her capacity as a dancer and a choreographic artist
were honored with the Medal for Preserving Culture from the Korean
government in 1980.  Further recognition and honors came, among other
things, through performances at the Smithsonian Institution (1989) and the
State of Hawaii (1993).  Exactly twenty major awards and certificates are
listed and described in the awards-category of the book (pp. 28-30).  After
her death in 1994 her long-time student and associate Mary Jo Freshley,
also a member of the book's editorial team, assumed responsibility for
Huhm's dance studio and its affiliated "Dances We Dance" Company, and for
what came to be the Halla Huhm Dance Collection.

       A short sketch of the life of Halla Huhm and a brief summary of the
history of Korean immigration to Hawaii after 1903 (pp. 1-12) put the
book's main body of annotated entries in perspective with Huhm's personal
story and the larger history of other Diaspora Koreans.  The achievement of
Halla Huhm becomes obvious when one looks at the specific needs of the
Korean immigrant situation before and throughout the span of Huhm's own
time in Hawaii.  The need for an identity was prevalent from the beginning.

       About 7,000 men had lived miserable bachelors' lives on sugar
plantations from 1903 until the so-called "picture brides" started to
arrive after 1910.  But the misery didn't necessarily end with the picture
brides' arrival; on the contrary, many a marriage failed due to what were
often vast age and personal differences between bride and groom.  The quest
for identity was further augmented through the loss of and struggle to
regain national independence during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45).
After the war, the situation stabilized for Korean Hawaiians but still,
many "GI brides," Korean women married to American soldiers, experienced
great difficulty adjusting to their new homes and overcoming cultural
barriers.

       The approximately 8,000 items in the collection, which is still in
Freshley's possession, are stored in 31 boxes and consist of materials
dating mostly from around the 1950s to 1997.  The collection is organized
into seven main categories:  correspondence, awards, flyers, programs,
international newspaper clippings (in Korean, English, Japanese),
photographs (general and those depicting Huhm), and miscellaneous items.
After the reading of a lengthy, four-page guide, the inventory is
relatively easy to use (pp. 13-18).  Each item is conveniently accessible
through exact chronological data, followed by a headline and the annotated
text.  A catchy keyword-line in a bold-faced font summarizes the item.
Unfortunately, although it is mentioned several times, a body of film
(video and 8mm) 115 minutes in length has neither been described nor
offered as a separate, eighth category section.

       In the correspondence file, researchers will find thank-you notes,
letters of appreciation, grant notifications, membership requests,
invitations to perform, etc.  This category is an impressive record of
Huhm's activities as well as a documentation of the increasing
representation and establishment of Korean heritage studies in Hawaii.
Given the vast industriousness of Huhm's nature, one can only wonder as to
how much she has contributed to this advanced development and the positive
reception of Korean culture abroad.  Her career is remarkable in many ways,
but interestingly enough it seems to peak at around the time of her death,
after which came the establishment of the Halla Huhm Foundation.

       The richest and most promising categories for researchers of the
dance will most likely be the three newspaper sections.  A solid block of
information from three languages (roughly the1950's through the'90's)
reflects the process of the media approaching a higher degree of
sensitivity toward cultural performances not only in Japan and Korea, but
especially in the U.S.  Not without reason was Huhm honored several times
by succeeding Korean governments for her promotion of Korean culture.  A
typical statement with a nationalist tone is the following newspaper
headline from 1976:  "Halla Huhm Enhances National Glory Internationally"
(p. 97).  More acceptably, the quest for authenticity is still maintained
today, as expressed in a recent article entitled "The Roots and
Transmission of Korean Performing Arts":  "Korean performing artists must
find an identity -- modern and yet truly Korean -- that strikes a balance
between the traditional arts and Western performing arts." (Mee-Won Lee,
Koreana, 11/2  (1997): 16-21)

       Although at times a bit voluminous, the mass of detail within the
annotations can be thoroughly appreciated.  The system saves researchers
much time in gaining a quick overview without spending hours on the boxed
materials themselves.  It will be interesting, for example, to analyze the
patterns of Huhm's experience against the larger backdrop of the performing
arts in the homeland and at other Korean Diaspora locations around the
world.

       The collection itself seems to long for a more rounded status
regarding Huhm's theory of dance, which at the same time obviously must
have also been her philosophy of life.  Readers and researchers will be
intrigued to learn about her "strong sense of discipline," "stern
scolding," and the "development of true character" (p.6).  What have these
things to do with dance? How did students gain an understanding of her
teachings during studio sessions? How did the teachings affect the lives of
her students? Moreover, how did Huhm reach her audience with her art? Did
international audiences participate as enthusiastically as they do in
Korea?  These are (Western) expectations that readers will develop and
bring with them to the actual collection.  To shed light on these questions
is certainly not the task of this compilation, but its quality and nature
alone hint at a number of research options for investigators, and possible
tasks for the Huhm Foundation.  Conducting interviews with Huhm's former
students would be a major task, as would assessing the philosophical and
theoretical elements in Huhm's approach.

       As for describing the myriad of photographs in the collection, I can
only remark that sifting from item to item, one becomes keenly aware of the
saying, "One picture is worth a thousand words," i.e., even a tiny
selection of the most expressive photos would have enhanced a quick access
to this part of the inventory.

       Finally, I come to my only reservation:  the format of the
publication, which currently, with a plastic comb binder, initially appears
rather like a business report.  Perhaps the supporting foundations should
be tapped again -- if a second edition is produced -- for a more book-like
presentation.  It could be upgraded or restructured into a full-fledged
catalogue including some of the most representative photographs and
graphics described in the text.  Overall, however, this compilation should
prove a rich source of information for researchers and devoted disciples of
cultural blending, who in turn will no doubt come up with publications or
new performances of their own, further promoting the development of the
dance, the study of the dance, and the opportunities which the field of
dance can contribute to the establishment of cultural identity, mutual
understanding, and contemporary cultural renewal.


Citation:
Reinschmidt, Michael  1999
Review of Judy Van Zile (ed.), _The Halla Huhm Dance Collection.  An
Inventory and Finding Aid_ (1998)
Korean Studies Review 1999, no. 10
Electronic file:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/korean-studies/files/ksr99-10.htm
[This review first appeared in Acta Koreana 2 (1999): 164-67]


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