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    Korean Dance: Pure Emotion and Energy
    Korean Dance: Pure Emotion and Energy
    Korean Dance: Pure Emotion and Energy
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Korean Dance: Pure Emotion and Energy

    By Curtis File

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    About this ebook

    Dance has been a medium for understanding the philosophy of and emotions behind a culture. This is especially true for a country with a vast and complex history like Korea. Korean dance is a tradition that includes every form of contemporary dance in the country, from shamanistic to folk, court to modern traditional dance, and even breakdancing. Over the past several centuries, each of these unique dance forms has attempted to convey the Korean psyche. This book aims to examine Korean dance from its primitive roots to the complex court rituals and on to the pop culture styles of today. What sets Korean dance apart from that of other cultures will also be explored. Finally, readers will be able to delve into its broad range of forms and long history and gain a better understanding of its role in society.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSeoul Selection
    Release dateDec 3, 2015
    ISBN9781624120558
    Korean Dance: Pure Emotion and Energy

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      Book preview

      Korean Dance - Curtis File

      Graham

      Dance is not the creation of a single individual but an entire culture developed by many people through the ages, gradually changing and being polished over time. As such, it is a valuable cultural heritage that embodies the character and emotions of a people and reflects the spirit of the times. Each movement and each step in dance, therefore, impart a sense of the history and lives of people of the past.

      The underlying spirit of Korean dance comes from Eastern religion and philosophy, and its profound spiritual background is derived from the rhythm of nature, which arises from a state of self-renunciation. If dance is an intensified expression of the exhilaration of life, Korean dance reflects an accord between labor and art that connects work, shamanic rites, amusement, and drama into one comprehensive art.

      RESPECT FOR NATURE

      The spiritual base of Korean dance is respect for nature and freedom of expression. Koreans have always believed that people, as a natural phenomenon, must adapt to nature. They came to consider nature as mystical and the most beautiful thing in existence, and learned to abhor any behavior that damaged or went against it. Korean dance is often said to display the art of artlessness, the organization of the unplanned, a simple grace, and the spirit of fun.

      SELF-EXPRESSION

      Korean folk dance is very improvisational; it lacks a set format and consequently has no set movements or big changes in formation. Self-expression is a strong characteristic of Korean folk dance.

      Hallyangmu, Korean noblemen’s dance

      Though the dance has a formal framework and prototypical movements, the framework changes according to the occasion and performer, which means the movements can differ from one performance to the next. Fundamentally, folk dance in Korea is not performed for itself or to show off any technical skill; it is evaluated by the degree to which the dance can be made one’s own and expressed emotionally.

      HIGHLY EMOTIONAL

      Korean folk dance is said to embody han and sinmyeong, two concepts that have been integral to the Korean people’s lives. Among the multiple definitions of han is a deep sentiment manifested as profound grief or sadness. The bitter feelings in the hearts of the common people, rooted in the frequent invasions of Korea by neighboring countries and the paradoxes of the social structure, found expression in dance. Long, slow, and dragging movements of the feet and constrained shoulder movements are often considered symbols of this mental syndrome in Korean folk dance.

      The shamanic dance salpurichum is an artistic expression of the uniquely Korean emotion of han.

      In jangguchum—a dance that evokes the emotion shinmyeong (excitement)—dancers move to various rhythms while playing the janggu, a traditional Korean drum.

      The feelings of han are released in sinmyeong, which can be defined as the artistic ecstasy or exhilaration that occurs at that final dramatic moment when tears turn to laughter and darkness turns to light. While han is the emotional undercurrent of Korean dance, sinmyeong breaks through those feelings. Sinmyeong represents a utopian world of life and light reached after passing through death and darkness, of laughter and joy reached after passing through pain and sorrow.

      STILLNESS

      At the heart of Korean dance is a dichotomy of stillness and motion. Stillness serves as a tool to build excitement for the audience. Fast-flowing movements demonstrate a rising tension, pacified by stillness, then finally released in the next burst of movement. While the flow of movement appears to stop, the dancer is collecting the energy required to gently break into the next series of fluid movements. Korean dancers are said to move through their positions rather than arriving at them, creating the effect of what is sometimes called a visual sigh of relief.

      Seungmu (Buddhist monastic dance) effectively expresses the harmony of stillness and motion that characterizes Korean dance.

      The elegance of Korean court dance is derived from its slow movements.

      The monastic dance seungmu is a notable example of a dance that takes advantage of stillness. The exaggerated movements of the long sleeves of the dance costume, coupled with breathless pauses, are meant to create catharsis for the audience.

      VERTICALITY

      The theme of up-and-down movements persists in Korean dance. In slower forms like court dances and those influenced by Buddhism, dancers regularly rotate between bending and extending their knees. In faster dances such as mask dances and certain folk dances, the bent knees are released in a burst of kinetic energy into a jump. This is also commonly seen in shamanic dances as a symbolic gesture that spirits have possessed the shaman’s body.

      Verticality is also seen in micro movements of Korean dance, particularly movement of the shoulders. This is closely related to the sound and beat of Korean music. The shoulders rise with the sharp sounds of instruments like the zither, and fall on the down beats and accents of the drums. These vertical movements convey a sense of resignation, pain, and anguish, followed by a feeling of release.

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