Disclaimer: I don't know very much about pansori (spelt "pansoori" in most reviews of
Chunhyang), so maybe someone can add to this.
Pansori is the
epic and oral
storytelling tradition of Korea. In performance, there's usually a
singer and a
drummer. The singer uses an incredible range of
voice to both
recite and
sing the lyrics, which shift between
third person narrative and
first person. He or she also strikes poses and gestures, deftly using a folding
fan and sometimes a
handkerchief. The drummer uses a stick to strike the wooden body of the drum with one hand, while using his left hand on the drum head--he also calls out to the singer occasionally. It's very rhythmic and you can actually tap your feet to it, unlike many other epic traditions.
There's an unusual sort of
call and response technique involved with the audience, a bit like some
African-American and
evangelical churches. These audiences are actively involved with the story, sometimes chanting the words ahead of time, sometimes reacting to the
joy or
sadness of whatever's just happened.
Tradition holds that the pansori comes from the
rituals of
shamans of the
Cholla region, which won't surprise you once you hear the songs. Some shamans became itinerant minstrels (
kwangdae) instead, and during the
Choson period, strictly-pansori kwangdae branched away from purely-entertainment kwangdae. There are female pansori, though I don't know the earliest date of such.
You can see the amazing muscles in the neck and throat of a performer, and it's no wonder, because a complete pansori takes 6 to 8 hours to perform. Pansori plays a major role in the film, "
Chunhyang," so perhaps more information in
English (outside of academic journals) will be forthcoming.