Gugak training and performance have been a fundamental and enriching part of my artistic and personal life.  I first started learning gugak at the National Gugak Center (known at the time as the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts) in Seoul in 2005 and then spent most of my Masters program in Ethnomusicology studying Korean performing arts, eventually studying Korean traditional dance and pansori at the Washington Korean Performing Arts Center and performing in the pansori group Washington Sorichung. When I moved back to Seoul, I began taking classes at the National Gugak Center with a variety of renowned gugak artists and eventually studied in some of my teachers' private studios. Over time I had to sacrifice time studying gugak to the rigors of leading Seoul Shakeseare Company, but I continued to take pansori classes for foreigners at the National Theater of Korea. I had hoped to resume intensive gugak study during my final years in Korea, but the pandemic stopped all classes at the National Gugak Center and National Theater. In London I am now away from my teachers, but I hope to find a way to study gugak in the future. My background in gugak gave me an artistic core as an actor and was a major influence on our Shakespeare productions, particularly King Lear which I directed and designed in 2019.