Part 28 - A Gift for Grandfather

Young-Soo smiled in pleasure and not a small degree of relief. The party was on, and so far, it was going well. He and his father had long since given up any attempt or pretense of having surprise birthday parties for Grandfather Kim. The old bird was too sharp, too cagey and had too darned many birthdays to be truly surprised by a celebration. Oh sure, he'd gone along with the game when Young-Soo was young and then again for Eun Ae's formative years. However, that had been a few years in the past. Now? There was just no way to pull this birthday shindig off secretly. Too many of the world's Taekwondo luminaries wanted to attend Grandfather Kim's 90th Birthday Party.

Still, coordinating the travel and logistics for more than fifteen of the world's ranking Grandmasters AND the President of the World Taekwondo Federation, Dr. Choue Chung-won, had been challenging to say the least. Getting them all home again should be far more straightforward. He hoped. Well, that was a problem for AFTER the party. Now, it was time to relax, kick back and celebrate his grandfather, the man known throughout the United States and Korea as 'Grandfather Kim.'

"Grandson," Papa Kim asked softly from his seat at the head table, "I do not see Jeja Christie. Have you heard anything? There's nothing wrong, I hope."

Should have known the sharp-eyed old man would notice that his favorite student was not currently in the crowd. "She said she had a surprise for you, Grandfather, but she would be just a little late. She said she had some last-minute things to do to perfect her surprise."

"Oh, very well. As long as she is here soon," Grandfather replied before returning to his conversation with Grandmaster (9th Dan) Brenda Sell, who had come up to chat with him.

~-~

"Are you ready, girl?" Wilma Davis asked as she brushed an errant curl back from Christie's forehead. "Here, let me repin that. Perfect. So, Ready?"

Christie took a deep, cleansing breath. "As I'm likely to be, Wilma. This seemed like a really cute idea, but now? With all these Taekwondo high mucky-mucks out there? My God, Wilma! We'd have more star power than a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show if they were models!"

"Miss McKellar," Rene Coulter interrupted firmly. "You. Are. Ready. There. I have said so! Now, go out there, break a leg and amaze everyone. Including me, by the way. Trust me, you do NOT want to disappoint ME! Right?"

"Right," Christie answered with a giggle. "Guess I'm ready, then. Wilma? You're on! Let's do this."

~-~

Wilma walked out to the main studio and then took her place on the makeshift announcing stand, positioned off to the side of the head table. A quick mouse click and an oriental-sounding gong peel reverberated through the dojang, causing all conversation to stop, all eyes shifted to the gaily-dressed young woman. "If you would all move to your seats, we have a special surprise for Grandfather Kim. Please clear the main mat as quickly as possible. Thank you."

Clearly wondering what was going on, Grandfather looked from Wilma to the main door, expecting to see Christie enter with her surprise. Then, motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to the hallway to the dressing rooms and saw . . .Madame Coulter coming out into the studio?

"Masters, honored guests, fellow instructors and students, it is my honor to introduce a performance that seeks to fuse two arts as a special gift to Grandfather Kim. Oh, and one more thing, Master Young-Soo has granted a one-time dispensation to the custom of no shoes on the main dojang floor. Just in case you were concerned, Madame Renee." The older woman who had arrived at the announcing stand chuckled softly and curtsied, careful to show her own shoeless feet.

"And now, making her first of a two performance limited engagement, we present BallerJeja Christie and 'The Dance of the Koryo Plum Poomsae."

Christie stepped out of the hall shadows and dance walked to the center of the dojang's main mat. A murmur of voices passed through the assembled party-goers as they took in her costume. She was a vision in white, wearing a classic Bolshoi style ballerina outfit of leotard, tights, tutu and crown, with lace accents. And yes, she was wearing toe shoes. When she reached center-mat, Christie faced Grandfather and the Head table and assumed Ballet Position One. Almost. She held her 4th Geup Blue Belt by the ends in both hands. Quickly, she donned the belt about her waist and tied it off with a perfect square knot.

Christie finishing tying off the belt was the signal for Wilma to start the music. The familiar strains of 'The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' began to play throughout the dojang. Executing a formal Taekwondo bow, followed by a ballerina's grand curtsy, Christie began her fusion performance of the Koryo Poomsae and the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance.

Most of the movements and transitions were purely balletic. Christie did most of her movement en pointe and added choreographic flourishes and extensions. However, the specified movements of the Koryo Poomse were performed in the correct order and with the proper form. As an exclamation point for each Taekwondo move, the choreography had just the slightest hesitation built-in. Christie held and demonstrated each required element for her very knowledgeable audience. The music ended as Christie floated back to center-mat, facing Grandfather again. She curtsied deeply, then came back to a position of attention and bowed again formally to the assembled Masters and Grandmasters seated at the head table.

For almost painfully long moments, the dojang was absolutely silent. Then, Grandfather Kim stood, came around in front of the Head Table, and returned Christie's bow. The rest of the Head Table immediately stood and followed Grandfather's lead. A softly uttered "Charyut (attention)" brought everyone, including Christie, back to attention, at which point Grandfather began applauding, grinning widely. Applause and cheers spread rapidly through the audience as everyone was now standing. Christie gave another curtsy and then turned to dance run to the dressing room.

Not having that, Grandfather hopped down from the dais and took off in pursuit of his student. Moments later, he returned with the brightly blushing ballerina on his arm. He gestured for Madame Renee to join them, and she came over to take Papa's free arm. Back at center-mat, Grandfather presented Christie to the audience for a 'curtain call' and another curtsy, then escorted her to the Head Table. He then went on to introduce both women to the assembled dignitaries.

When she tried to leave after that, he simply wouldn't release her arm and seated her next to him at the table. "Grandfather, I need to change," she hissed in a whisper.

"No, Jeja. It is my birthday and my surprise. I am keeping my Koryo Plum Fairy for the party." Master Kim relinquished his seat so that Renee could join them. "I must say, that was delightful, and I am sure I have your ballet Sa Bum Nim to thank for much of that, too. Wilma said two performances? When and where will the next one be, Jeja. I want tickets."

Renee reached into her purse and pulled out a large envelope which she handed to the old man. "There are complimentary backstage passes in that envelope for you, your family and friends to attend my school's summer recital next week. My price for helping in this enterprise was that Christie would relent on her refusal to solo - silly thing worries that she'll take opportunities from my other girls. Anyway, she will be repeating this performance there, but with two small adjustments."

"Adjustments, Madame Renee? Really? It seemed just wonderful to me as is."
The dance mistress got a sardonic grin on her face as she replied. "Yes, but Christie will perform in a dobok and bare feet for my recital. To account for that dispensation your grandson gave her so she could wear her toe shoes in the dojang."

Christie's blush came back in full force. "Umm, actually, it's not quite my usual dobok, Grandfather. I think it's more a costume from the old Kung Fu TV show. It's very colorful, free-flowing and really silky. Actually, it looks terrific when I dance in it. Umm, it just doesn't pop and snap for anything, though."

"So you will show your dance friends elements of our martial arts even as you showed my guests aspects of your balletic art. Very appropriate, Jeja. I look forward to it. Now, have some cake and tell me how you all managed this without me knowing about it. I cannot recall when I've been quite so surprised - particularly at a birthday party.

~-~