Although the K in the title "K-nite: Illuminate the Night," was meant to be silent, the K in Korea made some serious noise at the Korean Student Association's annual cultural show in the Levin Ballroom Saturday night. Starting with the voice of Soohan Song '08, who sang the American and Korean national anthems, and ending with a parade of traditional Poongmul drumming, this year's show presented a palatable, diverse menu of Korean culture.

Event coordinators Debra Cho '08 and Thomas Aun '09 covered the bases by mixing in education about Korean culture with its performing arts. Early on, a slide show of Korean historical, political, culinary and popular culture gave the night some context before the meat of the show began. It discussed Korea's "Dark" and "Golden" political ages, its status as the 11th-biggest economy in the world and Koreans' impact on the film and music industry, such as actor John Cho (Harold and Kumar, Better Luck Tomorrow) and pop star and actor Rain.

Next was an impressive presentation of tae kwon do in which five students first displayed slow movements and positions before breaking into a session of exhausting board breaking. Striking with strong punches and flying feet, each student proved he was not to be messed with; students' blows sent wood splinters across the stage. Some students whirled spinning kicks and broke boards of wood held over six feet in the air, while others resorted to breaking them with their faces or across their flexed backs.

A troupe of KSA members danced to a techno-rock-Korean-pop-fusion and a short fashion show displayed bright, traditional clothing worn for weddings by royalty and geisha.

David Klasko '07 kept the crowd laughing with a stand-up comedy routine inspired during a visit to Korea. He commented on similarities of Korean culture to the rest of the world: "There is one thing that unites us all," he said, referring to popular Korean soap operas. "Bad television." On the differences, he said, "In Seoul the streets literally have no names," and "down, left, down, left, A-B-A doesn't work in real life," referring to Korea's gaming culture.

Next, the audience was treated to the flow of Korean-American rapper Chan. Chan, or Roy Kim, focuses on breaking Asian-American stereotypes in hip hop. Along with two members of his posse and his cousin, Chan owned the stage, despite having to keep his lyrics clean for some children in the audience. He worked over some familiar beats (like The Police's "Roxanne"), but transformed them into his own purpose and voice, along with his cousin, who rapped exceptionally quickly in Korean.

A group of first-years directed by Richard Kim '10 sought to promote its Korean heritage in an amusing skit about valiant and corrupt magistrates and the loyal women who helped change a nation. To wrap up the show, students performed an elegant fan dance in which the fans played a game of geometry and fluttered like wings. After a few minutes of traditional dancing, they were interrupted by a modern interpretation of a fusion fan dance that united both styles with a song by Korean pop star Rain.

In a dramatic finale, 10 students performed traditional Poongmul drumming that built tension like a racing heartbeat and required great coordination as the drummers traveled and spun around the room and stage.

After the show, the audience enjoyed a wide selection of Korean food, including the popular "kimchi," satisfying audience and performers in yet another delicious facet of Korean culture.