One of the important assets of the people of Korea and an integral part of its culture are national dances.
This type of art allows the viewer to get acquainted with the vibrant and original culture of the country. Folk dance is specific, diverse, bright and beautiful. It contains a lot of complex and interesting elements. They are divided into a large number of types and styles of the most diverse directions (folk, court, shamanic, ritual, dancing with fans, etc.).
History of the development of dance
The history of the formation of Korean national dance dates back thousands of years. Documents and numerous architectural evidence show that the Korean dance originated about 3,000 years ago. This is evidenced even by wall painting in Muryongshong or the Tomb of the dancers, dating back to the Goguryo period.
All this came from the ancient rituals of shamans. The dance was changing under the influence of Buddhism, Christianity, as well as the traditions and cultures of neighboring countries, especially China.
Features of Korean dance
Korean dance is colorful and diverse. His metaphysical philosophy is based on a peculiar idea that the human body is the Universe. The existence of people ideally consists in a constant desire to keep in harmony the inner world with the heavenly and earthly manifestations of life surrounding them.
The dance itself combines basically, on the one hand, plasticity and easy flowing of poses and forms, and on the other - wide energetic and swift unexpected movements.
Types of Korean Dances: Short Description
Korean culture (namely dance) is beautiful and quite diverse. In it there are a huge variety of different types of dances.
The Korean dance of the Confucian rite is a mass performance in which 64 dancers are participating, lining up in 8 rows. And he performed to the Confucian ritual melody. Its main movements are slow and smooth inclinations to the beat of the music.
Chakpop also refers to ritual dances. It symbolizes a prayer for souls directed to the Buddha.
Butterfly dance is performed by nuns of monasteries (Buddhist).
With cymbals, the dance is masculine (performed by monks).
Dance with a drum - solo. Only one man dances in it.
Peasant dance is most popular. It demonstrates energetic and dynamic movements with high jumps. In such dances, improvisations are more often used. The most popular of these is masked Thalchum. This is a kind of small production (theatrical), filled with comic scenes that make fun of the nobility and representatives of the upper class of society.
The shamanistic Korean dance symbolizes requests and prayers to the spirits for appeasement. Such dances fascinate with their smoothness. A large role in them is played by emotional saturation and rhythm matching.
It is believed that dancing with fans came from the performance of shamans with leaves. Subsequently, they became one of Korea’s most sophisticated dances. The famous Puchechum dance with fans was first shown to the public in 1954. It belongs to the new traditional dances. This performance is a bewitching sight. A slight waving of beautiful fans encourages harmony in the world.
Court dances were performed in rich, colorful costumes, demonstrating the graceful and beautiful movements of the performers. Incredibly beautiful performances contain various beautiful transitions and gestures.
Korean dancing girls with drums are elegant and energetic. They also belong to the types of Korean folk dance. The most diverse rhythms of the drums are synchronously displayed in the movements of the dancers. These dances demonstrate the unity of man with nature and the revival of a new life.
Costumes for dancing
Costumes for folk dances are very colorful. Court dances are performed in magnificent clothes, demonstrating subtle and graceful movements. These choreographic movements are smooth and contain many beautiful positions and gestures.
Now such dances are shown only at cultural performances performed by the best choreographers of the country.
Modern korean dancing
The beginning of the formation of modern Korean dance is mainly associated with the names of Choi Sung-hee and Cho Thak Won, who worked actively during the periods of Japanese colonial rule. A ballet troupe (in Seoul) was created after liberation from the yoke (late 1940s). This was the first professional collective (modern and classical dances).
The first Western music to appear in Korea in 1893 was the hymns of Christians. And in 1904, this new music began to be taught in schools. Changa sounded throughout the country - a completely new kind of songs performed on the melody of Western works.
In modern Korea, a great many courses, groups, schools have been created that teach and develop dance technique for young people. Korean dance is improving.
Today in Korea, young people also perform many modern club dances.