ABSTRACT

This study examines how and why traditional dance in Korea is conceptualized in a way that diverges from the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Convention of UNESCO. Using literature review and discourse analysis, it analyzes Korean cultural heritage laws and policy documents while critically engaging with theoretical shifts in folklore studies, anthropology, and performance studies that informed the ICH framework. The findings show that the Korean system conceptualizes traditional dance as a formalized performing art of professional practitioners, grounded in a product-oriented paradigm emphasizing historic value, artistry, and superiority. In contrast, the ICH Convention foregrounds a process-oriented paradigm, understanding heritage as community-based practice, transmission, and performance. This divergence produces a structural gap between form-centered and process-centered perspectives of the same dance practices. This study conceptualizes this difference as a tension between “preservation-oriented” and “process-oriented” paradigms, and proposes the necessity of reformulating the dual ontology of the intangibility and tangibility of dance cultural heritage.

This study aims to provide a multidimentional reconstruction of the transmission landscape of city- and provincial-designated intangible heritage dance arts of the Seoul metropolitan and central regions, and to explore a sustainable transmission paradigm. To this end, a comprehensive survey of intangible heritage designations within the region was conducted, and a comparative analysis of the aesthetic characteristics of salpuri chum and seungmu was performed according to their respective lineages. The analysis revealed a severe geographical imbalance; dance genres are heavily concentrated in western plain areas such as Seoul and Gyeonggi, whereas eastern mountainous areas like Gangwon and Jungbuk show uneven transmission due to the absorption of dance elements into composite ritual genres. Nevertheless, even within the same genre, distinctive artistic identities have differentiated into classical beauty, ritual character, and aesthetic flexibility depending on master-disciple lineages and regional sensibilities. Accordingly, this study proposes practical alternatives combining multidimensional archiving of fragmented local dance assets with a communication strategy that employs media technology as a limited supplement. This study is significant in demonstrating that regional intangible heritage constitutes an independent value system that sustains the diversity of Korean dance, and in establishing the necessity of a diversified transmission paradigm.

This study aims to identify the cognitive emotional mechanisms underlying why AI-based performance reproduction does not fully feel “authentic” to audiences, and to analyze the structure of audience authenticity perception. An AI-based performance reproduction video featuring Audrey Hepburn was used as a stimulus. The study does not seek to evaluate the authenticity of a specific traditional dance form, but focuses on how perceived visual artificiality influences authenticity loss and emotional distance. The research model draws on uncanny valley theory, perceptual realism, authenticity theory, and Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura. PLS-SEM analysis of 1,124 respondents revealed that unnatural gaze and facial expressions, violations of physical laws and detail errors, and excessively smooth skin representation all had significant effects on authenticity loss and emotional distance. Authenticity loss significantly affected emotional distance and partially mediated the relationship between visual artificiality and emotional distance. The findings suggest that audience experience in digital performing arts may be shaped more strongly by the perceived naturalness and authenticity of performance than by the level of visual reproduction itself.

This study examines data governance issues arising from the expanding use of data and artificial intelligence (AI) in the performing arts through a stage-based data pipeline framework. The pipeline consists of six stages: collection, cleaning and processing, storage and management, AI training, generation and utilization, and reuse and sharing. Using seven domestic and international cases, the study applies pattern-matching analysis to identify dominant governance factors at each stage, focusing on six dimensions: legitimacy, quality, control, transparency, accountability, and usability. The findings show that governance issues emerge structurally along the data pipeline rather than from specific technologies. Legitimacy was dominant in AI-based creative systems, quality in real-time performance environments, control in digital archives, and usability in platform-based sharing systems. The study highlights the need to establish stage-specific governance frameworks suited to AI-driven performing arts environments.

This study examines shifts in dance reception within the omnichannel environment from the perspective of ‘extended corporeality.’ Employing William Forsythe’s ‘choreographic object,’ Andre Lepecki’s ‘body as archive,’ and Kate Mattingly’s ‘choreographic apparatus’ as analytical frameworks, the study analyzes cases including Ambiguous Dance Company that traverse online and offline boundaries. The findings reveal that the omnichannel environment reconstructs dance through mechanisms of ‘translation’ and ‘control.’ First, as dance detaches from the physical body and is converted into data, it generates ‘mediated performativity’ and ‘performative archives.’ Second, under algorithmic control, audiences transition into active ‘performative spectators’ (corporeal prosumers) who embody and produce dance themselves. To address the risks of technological subjugation and the standardization of bodily aesthetics, this study proposes practical measures: establishing test-beds for empirical projects, introducing ‘modular choreography’, and building participatory dance-sharing platforms. This study is significant in elucidating the ontological transformation of dance and presenting a roadmap for a sustainable dance ecosystem.

This study explores dance instructors’ perceptions of changes in course culture and the reconstruction of relationship-centered teaching strategies in the context of generational change and digital transformation. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with dance instructors, and the collected data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. The findings reveal that dance classes have shifted from authority- and repetition-centered instruction toward a culture emphasizing explanation, fairness, emotional support, and individualized guidance. Students increasingly demand clear rationales for movements, training processes, and evaluation criteria. Instructor authority is established through professional expertise, explanatory competence, trust, and respectful communication. In response, instructors employ question-based teaching, process-oriented feedback, individualized instruction, emotional support, and digital communication channels. The study suggests the need to redefine dance instructors as educational practitioners who coordinate technical instruction, relationships, emotions, communication, and learners’ self-directed growth.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of narcissism on self-management and performance confidence among university students majoring in dance. A survey was conducted with dance majors enrolled in four-year universities in Seoul, and a total of 363 valid questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS Version 23.0. Data analysis included frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, reliability testing, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The findings are as follows. First, narcissism had a statistically significant effect on self-management. Second, narcissism significantly influenced performance confidence. Third, self-management had a significant positive effect on performance confidence. These results indicate that narcissism functions as a psychological resource that promotes self-management and enhances performance confidence among dance majors. The findings suggest that, within pre-professional dance training contexts, certain dimensions of narcissism may contribute positively to psychological stability and performance-related competence.

This study aims to establish the category of Korean traditional dance, in which Korean aesthetic consciousness and spiritual culture are embedded. The purpose is to explore the cultural-historical and policy implications of its inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. By analyzing historical literature and current state of domestic transmission, the study approaches the subject from perspective of ‘typical form [jeonhyeong]’ the intersection of tradition and modern transmission. The results confirm that dance forms redefined as stage arts in the modern era constitute the foundation of contemporary Korean traditional dance Furthermore, UNESCO inscription facilitates the globalization of the identity of Korean arts and shifts the policy paradigm from ‘preservation’ to sustainable ‘transmission and promotion.’ This study is significant in proposing a cultural-historical category for Korean traditional dance and presenting policy recommendations for UNESCO inscription. It serves as a scholarly and policy foundation encompassing both the preservation of archetypal forms and modern re-creation.

This study examined the effects of performance participation motivation on dance self-confidence and major satisfaction among Chinese international students majoring in dance studying at Korean universities and tested the mediating effect of dance self-confidence. A survey was conducted with 303 respondents, and the collected data were analyzed using measurement and structural equation models. The results showed that performance participation motivation had significant positive effects on both dance self-confidence and major satisfaction. Dance self-confidence also had a significant positive effect on major satisfaction and demonstrated a mediating effect in the relationship between performance participation motivation and major satisfaction. These findings suggest that systematic support for performance experiences and educational support measures to enhance dance self-confidence are necessary to improve major satisfaction and academic adjustment among international dance major students in Korea.

This study examined examine the effect of resilience on dance performance confidence of university students majoring in modern dance and to investigate the mediating role of psychological well-being in this relationship. Data were collected from 154 modern dance majors across Korea using a non-probability sampling method, and an online survey was employed for analysis. The validity and reliability of the collected data were confirmed through factor and reliability analyses, followed by multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis based on the procedure proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986). The results indicated that resilience had a significant positive effect on dance performance confidence, and that psychological well-being was found to mediate this relationship.