Famous International Folk Dance- Lesson 10

Types of Korean Folk Dance

  • Geommu: The Korean Sword Dance is one of the Important Intangibles. Supposedly coming from a legendary sword-dancer who killed the king of a rival kingdom, the traditional dance was modified by the courtiers of the Joseon Dynasty and is now one of the most popular dances performed.
  • Ganggang sullae: A "maiden's dance", performed in a circle, is another cultural treasure. This dance has shamanic roots of hopes for a good harvest, and was most often danced during the Chuseok holiday. Performed by women, it is traditionally danced at night as the dancers sing and chant to create their own accompaniment.
  • Seungmu: A dance based on Buddhist monks, this dance was banned at one time by the Joseon Court, but is now preserved as one of the Cultural Properties of Korea as well.
  • Seungjeonmu: A two-part dance to promote victory, it combines swords and drums in one dance. The roots of this dance go back several millennia, and paintings of it being performed go back to the first century B.C. It is the 21st Important Intangible Property of Korea.

    JAPANESE FOLK DANCE

  • Kagura

    The Kojiki is an ancient Japanese myth of darkness and light in which the sun goddess is lured from her cave with a ritual offering and a sacred dance. Kagura is the name of the temple dances inspired by the myth and typically tells all or part of the story of the return of the sun. The mythological dance was quite bawdy and seductive, but the derivative Kagura temple dances are more sedate rituals and can be performed in a kind of slow motion that emphasizes every gesture and every use of symbolic props.

    • Bugaku

    Bugaku are Imperial Japanese court dances that fused influences from Chinese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Indian dance. They took the forms of dignified civil dances and dynamic warrior, running and children's dances, choreographed to Chinese or to Korean music. These are geometric pattern dances with extremely stylized arm, hand, and feet movements. They tell stories; one defining characteristic of the genre is the elaborate masks which identify the various players. If you see a traditional Bugaku dance performance today, it may remind you of the cultures Bugaku was borrowed from -- the Chinese New Year lion dance, for instance.

    Sangaku

    Sangaku was rowdier dancing that appealed to the common people and might utilize puppets, acrobatics, and energetic music. It was the entertainment at various social occasions, not confined to formal presentations or temple ritual. The earliest Sangaku evolved into a popular dance form called Sarugaku, a precursor of Noh theatre. The masks used in the dances serve to disguise the males who play female characters in all-male Noh performances. When Sangaku appears in traditional Noh theatre today, it often has a burlesque quality that disguises the deceptively difficult mastery required for the art form.

    Awa Odori

    The Awa is a 400-year-old festival dance from the island of Shikoku. In the dance, men and women are separated into groups and move in different styles. The men are bent forward with bowed legs, hands raised just over the head, wrists gently waving up and down. The women are more upright and graceful. Their palms face inward at the start, their wrist movements are more rounded, the fingers of each hand move in unison. Throughout the dance, the women remain tall, taking high steps, and the men stay lower to the ground, always with bent knees. There's a kind of jazzy feeling to the drums, flute and brass gong playing that is reflected in the lively progress of the dancers down festival streets. Awa seems simple to perform but you need a strong back and muscular thighs to maintain the raised arms and bent knees positions, synchronized with the measured drumbeats.

    Bon Odori

    Bon is a summer festival (late July or August) that welcomes and honors ancestors. It is an upbeat, happy time with a cheerful traditional folk dance known as Bon Odori. Everyone dances -- Bon Odori isn't difficult to learn and exuberance trumps precision in performance. Bon Odori is usually danced at night, when the souls of the ancestors visit, so you will see open-air stage shows and street dances lit with strings of lights. Depending on space, people generally dance in a great continuous circle. If you'd like to try a Japanese folk dance, Bon Odori is a good one to attempt. Just mind your feet and memorize a few simple arm gestures, put on a dazzling smile and repeat, repeat, repeat. The video is a mini-lesson you can master in less than five minutes.




    CHINESE FOLK DANCE

    Court Dance

    The arts flowered in the Tang dynasty, 618 - 906 CE, interweaving poetry, painting, sculpture, music and dance into sophisticated amusements and cultural expressions for the upper classes. Dancers learned martial arts, gymnastics and expressive sculptural forms that were codes for classic stories and emotions. Court dances were reserved for the palace of the emperor and for ceremonies in Confucian temples and eventually migrated to the highly stylized Peking Opera.

    Prince Qin's Cavalry

    Prince Qin's Cavalry was a massive, spectacular dance with military maneuvers, battle formations and audience participation. It filled the stage with 100 singers, 100 musicians and more than 100 dancers who moved in a dozen variations of martial maneuvers. As the audience kept time by pounding the floor with their swords, the emperor's war chariots occupied downstage and foot soldiers were positioned upstage. The dancers formed a circle to the left and then a square to the right. The entire synchronized exercise was a military-readiness performance to remind the peaceful Tang dynasty that the threat of war required constant vigilance.

    Nichang Yuyi

    Nichang Yuyi (also known as The Feather Dress Dance or The Song of Enduring Sorrow) is a delicate lament about an emperor and his concubine, performed in feathered costumes. Tang dynasty emperor Xuan Zong wrote and choreographed this dance, which is still a popular tourist must-see in China due to its ethereal setting, costumes, and romantic story. The dancers act out the emperor's dream that includes a journey to the moon where he is entertained by a host of graceful performers. In the dance, the emperor awakens and tells the dream to his favorite concubine, who then dances it for him, fluttering around the stage in feathers and silk that enhance her refined court dance movements.

    Folk Dances

    China has 56 distinct ethnic minorities, and each has traditional dances that reflect and express its culture. Miao, Dai, Mongolian and Tibetan minorities perform some of the most well-known dances, featuring ornate regional costumes and signature rituals and story lines. Westerners are most familiar with the Fan Dance and the Ribbon Dance, which are attention-grabbers with vivid, showy props. Other dances highlight rhythmic beats and cultural folklore.

    Fan Dance

    Fans, used throughout Chinese history at every level of society for thousands of years, are colorful and fluid stage props, often stand-ins for blooming flowers, clouds, or lofty sentiments. In the Fan Dance, the dancer's body follows the lead of the fan, arcing and exploding into dynamic moves as the fans float in the air or snap open and closed.

    Ribbon Dance

    The Ribbon Dance is emotive and expressive, with frequent leaps and twirls aiding in the constant shapes and spirals formed by the long silk ribbons. This dance emerged from ancient Han dynasty heroic legends, but the "dancing" ribbons were so mesmerizing that the choreography evolved to feature just the breathtaking formations traced in the air.

    Dai Dance

    Dai dances take place to percussive beats, with specific drum beats for individual dances. Most of the choreography focuses on translating the moves of subtropical creatures to human movement. Dances feature exotic egrets, fish, butterflies, and peacocks. Mythical animals also appear, such as the gaduo, with its deer antlers on a lion's head, dog's mouth and elongated neck. Sinuous moves may be punctuated by the bobbing, jerking steps of birds walking with their chests pushed out, the arms flapping like wings.

    Tibetan Dance

    Tibetan dance reflects the topography and lives of people who inhabit the high Himalayas, with the forward-slanted stance, energetic turns and jumps, and rhythmic, bouncy steps required for navigating steep climbs while carrying heavy loads. Male dancers wear high-heeled boots and both male and female dancers wear the traditional Tibetan tunics and trousers.

    Mongolian Dance

    Mongolian dances mimic the horse culture and expansive open lands where the dances developed. Wide arms evoke the eagle's flight. High stepping, rearing back, and syncopated "gallops" pay homage to the historic equestrian lifestyle of the region. Expect to see chopsticks and bowls used as props, and elaborate headpieces to complement belted and embroidered robes.

    The Miao

    The Hmong people, or the Miao, are among the oldest of China's ethnic groups and their dances display an important symbol of Miao wealth. Silver is highly prized as a sign of economic and social status, a talisman to ward off evil, and a magnet for happiness and prosperity. The jingling sound of necklaces, bracelets, headdresses, tiny bells and charms that adorn Miao dancers blends with distinctive drumming to inspire exuberant movement. The weight of the silver dictates the choreography. Swaying head, hips and hands; low, contained jump kicks; and leg moves that start with raising the unadorned upper leg first are characteristic of these dances as are spinning and fast moves to flare pleated skirts.

    Fierce and Fortunate Lions and Dragons

    Beastly creatures delight audiences young and old during the annual Chinese New Year festivities within the People's Republic of China and in the global diaspora. The world-famous Lion and Dragon dances are derived from folk dances. Visit the streets of the commercial areas in any Chinatown during the annual New Year celebration to listen to the pounding drums and view the antics of the costumed performers. Brightly painted tossing heads and synchronized snaking lines of dancers form the body of the lion who brings good fortune, or the dragon who chases away misfortune and evil spirits.

    The Lion Dance

    The Lion dance kicks off the Lunar New Year. It's a clownish, exuberant romp down commercial streets lined with parade goers and merchants. Two dancers hide inside an enormous papier-mache head with front paws and a back end, head-tossing and tail-wagging to comic effect as they travel from business to business receiving offerings from the merchants for prosperity in the coming year. Lions are not indigenous to China so the lion head typically looks more like a dragon or a monster.

    The Dragon Dance

    The Dragon dance is part of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth night of the two-week New Year's festivities. A brightly painted tossing head and synchronized snaking line of dancers - the dragon's body - chase away misfortune and evil spirits as they bestow blessings on the crowd. Elaborate Dragon dances may be presented onstage in theatrical productions.

    Characteristics of Chinese Dance

    From the graceful fan dance to variations on martial arts, Chinese choreography shares some common characteristics:
    • The movements are highly stylized. Every step and gesture follows a familiar pattern.
    • The body moves through space using circular forms with the arms, hands, head gestures, footwork, and bending the torso, as well as traveling across the stage. All the shapes created are fluid and rounded, often sinuous.
    • There is a distinct emphasis on hand-eye coordination.
    • Musicality - every move determined precisely by the music - affects each gesture from the inclined head to the upturned fingers to the downcast eyes.
    • Props are important: fans, sticks, hoops, ribbons, banners and other props play a central role in many dances.
    • Emotion provides the motivation for the movement. Chinese dance is extremely expressive, and every gesture is a ritual to convey a story.

    References:   https://dance.lovetoknow.com/korean-folk-dance
                      https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Japanese_Folk_Dance
                      https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Traditional_Chinese_Dance

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