Between April 22 and 28, the art group members of the Art Association of the Disabled under the Central Committee of the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled gave performance “I Love You” at the Pyongyang Municipal Youth Park Open-air Theatre, winning popularity among the audience.

Distinctive performance

The performance touched the heartstrings of the audience from the beginning.

It began with a lively dance of persons with hearing impairments along with the singing of the song “Dear Father” popular among the Korean people by persons with visual impairments freely playing guitar, percussion instruments, piano and electronic organ.

They were not everything that was distinctive.

According to a person concerned, the numbers of the performance were arranged in a non-repetitive way every day.

The audience said that the performance aroused unusual curiosity and interest among them mainly because it was done not in a fixed style but changed every day with colourful and special numbers.

Another feature of the performance was the performers’ display of various talents. The persons with visual impairments sang songs while playing instruments and those with hearing impairments displayed their high skills as dancers, earning widespread acclaim from the audience.

Stage of optimism

The stage of the performance was full of optimism of persons with disabilities.

Jon Yu Gyong, a woman with locomotive disabilities who won great admiration of the audience by her excellent artistic representation in a wheelchair in the dance “Disability does not matter”, said she had never expected that their performance would win such applause from the audience.

The same was the case with dances of persons with hearing impairments.

A decorative tassel dance depicting the landscape of the socialist countryside undergoing change day after day amid the ¬playing of a melody full of national flavour and Pongsan mask dance satirizing the feudal ruling circles humorously impressed the audience, affording them mirth.

Also, the performers’ singing was continuously applauded.

The performance included a magic piece as well.

An actress with her whole body bound with rope stripped a spectator on the stage of his jacket and wore it in an instant, leading the audience to the world of fantasy.

“After seeing the performance, I suddenly thought of the phrase ‘Advance through difficulties to delight’. I was greatly impressed and encouraged by the performers who overcame their disabilities to display their talents to their heart’s content,” said Nam Ryong Bom, worker of the Munsubong foodstuff processing company.

Arms form “forest”

In the performance, An Ryu Song, a woman with visual impairments, and Choe Jin Bom, a man with locomotive disabilities, were most popular with the audience.

An Ryu Song sang folk songs well with her sonorous voice and special tones, doing five encores.

Percussionist and vocalist Choe Jin Bom revved up the atmosphere of the performance with his excellent artistic skills. Optimistic songs sung by him in a wheelchair filled the theatre with great delight.

A mixed vocal duet of the man and the woman captivated the audience because of their fine artistic representation and ensemble.

Lots of spectators raised their arms high to enthusiastically wave to the tunes of their songs. It looked like a “forest” of arms.

The performance ended with song and dance “Dear Father” involving all performers.

The excellent performance which people want to see again made them keenly realize once again the benevolence of the socialist country which enables the disabled to fulfil their dreams and hopes.