The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of discourse act that was unfolded in the process of modern Korean dance securing its significance as performing arts. In Korea, the first-half of the twentieth century witnessed the formation of new culture based on a clash between modern Western civilization that was accepted and the autogenous modern consciousness. The appearance of newspapers, in particular, provided ample opportunities for the reading public to participate in the society and gave birth to the modern consciousness of sharing one's ideas with others. This happened in the field of dance from various perspectives including reviews in the criticism format after the appreciation of dance performances, critiques, dance theories, and new ideas of the traditional dance. There was no establishment of proper dance criticism in Korea during the modern period, however there were meaningful acts to create dance discourses from diverse perspectives and enhance the aesthetic modernity of the public.

This study aims to examine the aesthetic resonance principle of Korean dance by analyzing how the place of Korean dance in the Middle Ages was influenced by the effect of dance through the ‘ki (氣, energy)’ theory by philosopher Choi Han-gi (1803~1879). As a research method, records related to dance were selected from historical literature, and Choi Han-gi's books were used as main texts, and related discourses were referenced. The original texts of the old documents used online databases with major old documents such as the National History Compilation Committee database, and keywords were limited to ‘mu (巫, shaman)’, ‘mu (舞, dance)’, and ‘chum (춤, dance)’. The results of the study are as follows. First, Korean dance was organically adapted to the spacetime of traditional society. Second, it was confirmed that the space of life was entangled as a place of dance in the traditional society. Third, it was possible to aesthetically explain that the principle of resonance in a special space called “sai (사이, between)” among dance places in traditional society was in ‘communication’. The main keywords of this study ―placeness, resonance, singi (神氣, primal energy), communication― are concepts that share the meanings of resonance as the nature of dance. The keywords are expected to contribute a academic and practical direction for today's dance theory.

It is possible to determine how nongak (traditional Korean music performed by farmers) was sustained and what changes happened through various records including the history of lives and experiences of nongak performers, their personal diaries, village journals, village self-governing document, village minutes, etc. Using these records, this study elucidated the continuance and changing spectrum of nongak inherited in Sopo-ri, Jindo-gun, Jeolanam-do, the factors of change in and creation of tradition by village nongak, and the phenomenon of geolgul-jinbeomnon becoming permanent in Sopo-geolgun-nongak due to its designation as an cultural asset. This study also examined the identity of geolgun in Sopo-geolgun-nongak and how this designation became permanent. The composition of percussionists in the current Sopo-geolgun-nongak, such as the Jipsa, Mudong, Jorijung, Posu, Changbu, and Nongi(Nongu), or the performances of Geolgul-jinbeomnon had ben reconstructed since the mid-1980s based on the nongak document called Seosan-daesa-jinbeop-gungo from Haenam and other similar records. This was verified in this study through the changes in organizational composition of nongak bands since the 1960s. Nongak passed down in Sopo-ri was variously called as Sopo-ri Reconstruction Youth Society Nongak, Jindo Nongak, Geolgun Nongak, and Sopo-geolgun-nongak, etc. This study focused on examining the processes of Jindo Nongak Preservation Village formation and the designation of Sopo-geolgun-nongak as an intangible cultural asset in Jeolanam-do.

This study focuses on the sociocultural and artistical interrelations between the "Korean Dance" and two of the most popular non-textual forms of mass media - commercial sound recordings (gramophone records) and films (feature films, newsreels, documentaries) - between the 1930s and 1960s. First, this study focuses on how gramophone records were employed through the Korean dance recitals during this period, as well as on what type of music was used in these recitals. Second, this paper examines the films documenting "Korean Dance" shot and produced during the time period in question, and discusses how these films were produced and how it has impacted establishing the "Korean Dance" through its mass distribution. By doing so, this paper attempts to provide a preliminary suggestion on how the "Korean Dance" has made its transitions over time, as well as an opportunity to historically understand the actual manifestation of "Korean dance" during its earlier days of a modern form of performing arts. It can be strongly argued that a strong sense of a historical parallel is revealed between the historic development of the Korean Dance in the early 20th century Korea and the development of the notion of Korean national culture, as both came into their modern manifestation through a series of constant interactions between Korean premodern cultures and the modern foreign cultures.

This research attempted to clarify trends of Korean dances during the 1960s by analyzing dance video data from the National Gugak Center’s Garfias Collection. The Garfias Collection is an archive of Korean performing arts that was donated by American music anthropologist Robert Garfias in 2019. In 1966, Garfias stayed in Korea for several months and recorded Korean traditional performing arts through photographs and videos. In this collection, there are 14 video clips of Korean dances of the 1960s, which can be classified into three sections: court dance, Buddhist dance, and folk dance. Various literature surveys and expert interview were conducted to investigate the background and activity status of the performers at the time, as well as the costumes, dance movements and the composition patterns of each dance. In the case of court dance, they were performed before systematic restoration based on literature had been carried out, and it was found that the progress was faster and contained more creative elements than the current one. In Buddhist dance, it has proceeded almost identically to what is currently being performed, but it can be said that the pace of progression is faster and the individuality of the dancer stands out. Finally, in folk dance, it provided an opportunity to gain a new perspective on the formation of traditional dance since the video showed a very different aspect from the dance that is currently being transmitted.

The Korean-Chinese Janggo dance is a symbolic national art of the Korean-Chinese and a symbol of the Korean-Chinese culture. This study aims to research how Korean traditional culture, Janggo dance, developed and settled into the Korean-Chinese Janggo dance in China. To this end, we examine the changes of the Korean-Chinese Janggo dance by period and the characteristics of its choreography for the succession and development of the Korean-Chinese culture. First, the Korean-Chinese dancers pursued the development of national dance for succession and development of their culture, and also they attempted projects to discover, organize, and recreate the Korean-Chinese dance based on different perspective and ideas from China. Second, the Korean-Chinese Janggo dance has developed, reflecting the changes and development of The Korean-Chinese Janggo dance by period. Third, the artistic feature of the Korean-Chinese Janggo dance emphasizes the beauty of the dancer's body and expresses the harmony of the dancer's gestures as well as expressions with the Janggo dance and music. We hope that this paper would devote itself to the development of the Korean-Chinese Janggo dance and be used as a basis for future research.

This study aims to examine the educational development of Choi Seunghee’s training system, particularly with a focus on the development patterns of Korean-Chinese dance education textbooks and characteristics of Korean-Chinese dance education textbooks at Yanbian University in China, which has inherited and developed Korean-Chinese dance based on Choi Seunghees training system.

The characteristics of Yanbian University’s Korean-Chinese dance education textbooks examined in this study are as follows. First, it is based on the method of organizing educational textbooks, which was identified in Choi Seunghee’s training system. Second, the contents that were not covered by Choi Seunghee’s training system have been comprehensively adopted into the textbooks, which thus came to be loaded with abundant educational content. Third, a training system is currently established focusing on the basics of women’s dance movements.

Yanbian University’s Korean-Chinese dance education was able to create educational textbooks that could support the current logical training system due to the Korean-Chinese dance educators’ devotion to research on Korean-Chinese dance education, which was based on the principle of succession and development.

This examines the formation background of Han Seong-jun’s Janggo-chum, the performance activity of his disciple Kang Seon-young, and its transmission to Yang Seong-ok.

The celebrated drummer Han Seong-jun understood fully the united relation between dance and rhythm, and developed it into a traditional dance through musical elaboration.

Kang Seon-young, a pupil of the Joseon Music Dance Research Association led by Han Seong-jun, was attached to his dance and idea to preserve and hand down the Korean Dance. In 2000 she presented the performance, restoring the prototypic repertoire of nine pieces of Korean traditional dance including Janggo-chum performed by her master in 1930s. This study focuses on the transmission aspect and analyzes the characteristics of the dance movements presented in literature, performance pamphlets, moving pictures, and interviews.

First, the composition puts emphasis on playing the hand beat that can back up dance movements so that a dancer skilled at beating by hand can dance without help of a drumstick. Second, the music is made up with a ballad tuned accompaniment, starting from the lengthy tune over to fast, and back to lengthy in the end. Third, the dance contains the Korean beauty of moderation in the harmony of elegant movements and light rhythm according to the musical change. Fourth, the costume consists of a white upper garment with indigo cuffs and purple garment strings, and a crimson skirt. Fifth, the genealogy is from Han Seong-jun to Kang Seon-young, again to Yang Seong-ok, and there are many successors today.

The purpose of this research is to examine the historical development of the Korean-Chinese (ethnic Koreans in China) dance in China, and to examine the developmental aspects of the Korean-Chinese dance in Yanbian after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This research first defines the concept of the Korean-Chinese (ethnic Koreans in China) and Korean-Chinese dance. The Yanbian Korean-Chinese dance’s developmental aspects are divided in three stages: the Discovery and Creation of Korean-Chinese dance, the Development of Korean-Chinese dance, and the prevalence of Korean-Chinese dance. The characteristics that appear in the Yanbian Korean-Chinese dance’s development process is as follows.
 First, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Korean-Chinese dance was closely related to the dance development of the civilian local community.
 Second, in order to transmit and spread the Korean-Chinese dance in Yanbian, an established education and training system for Korean-Chinese dancers was required.
 Third, the dancing culture that was publically spread and transmitted, had moved on to performance stages by performers and was once again spread to earn its popularity.

This thesis examines the current status of the dance research of North Korea in three areas: research on dance history, research on dance theory, and the transmission and research of the cultural dance heritage. We investigate comprehensively by looking into the history of North Korean dance by identifying the artistic purpose of North Korea and the ways dance history books organize its history, and the research trend. In particular, it should be understood correctly on condition that the ideology contained in the dance, the social-cultural context, and the dance as a comprehensive art must be studied in paralleled with various theoretical systems, aesthetic characteristics, principles, and methods from a multifaceted perspective.

The history and culture of dance that could not be explained with old materials alone have been identified scientifically, newly established, and systematized in North Korea, and based on this, North Korean dance scholarship focused on the study of theory and method on the issues regarding transmission of the excellent traditions and dance heritage of the nation. This focus become an important guideline to the development of dance art in North Korea.

In addition, more systematic theoretical studies have been conducted in various ways, including Korean dance history, basic dance theory, and dance notation. These studies are significant in laying the foundation for the systemic and scientific study of dance theory. That would support the basics of dance, dance creation, and theoretical investigation.