This study introduces the online theater development case of the Nothing Theater, which Korea’s performing arts scene depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic developed based on the game engine Unity. In the online theater, choreographer Hur Yoon-Kyung’s Miniature Space Theater: Open Beta and Cha Ji-Ryang’s Only People Who Want to Leave See Everything were presented as online performances. This study seeks to present the possibility of choreography in online performances by analyzing the choreography and physicality as well as the relationship between performance and audience displayed in those works. When the stage where choreography is implemented and the human body as its medium are displaced into a virtual space, questioning the uniqueness of choreography opens the way for a new interpretation of and discourse on choreography. In the work of Hur, it was observed that the three designed theaters — virtual theater, performance theater, and sound theater were linked and combined through the audience’s movements. In the work of Cha, the audience moves in a three-dimensional space built by twisting and reconstructing a specific space. Suggesting the possibility of online performance, we demonstrate that choreography can be sensed through the composition of space without the physical body of performers and that the online theater can exist through the audience’s participation with their sensing bodies.

This study explores the primary issues in international performing arts exchange in the post-COVID-19 era. In our in-depth interviews with dance artists, each with over eight years of experience in international exchange before and after the pandemic, we witnessed the challenges and opportunities posed by the current pandemic situation. We used phenomenological methods to analyze the interview data. Our analysis revealed four problems: (1) the gap between live performance and recorded online performance; (2) the lack of equitable collaboration between artists and arts administrators; (3) the lack of diverse approaches and forms of support; and (4) the increase in barriers to international performing arts exchange. Our findings suggest countermeasures, such as: (1) balanced support both for live performance and online performance; (2) more flexible communication between artists and administrators; (3) adoption of more diverse and creative modes of international exchange; and (4) provision of training and education to promote artists’ access to and mobility in international artistic exchange.

“Die Braut von Korea” (The Bride of Korea), a ballet composed by Josef Bayer and written by Heinrich Regel, premiered in the K. k. Hof-Operntheater (Imperial Royal Court Theatre) in Vienna, Austria on May 22, 1897. The ballet consists of four acts and nine scenes depicting a fictional love story between the Prince of Korea and his bride Daisha, against the backdrop of the Sino-Japanese War (1894 95). This ballet was performed 38 times in Vienna and 14 times in the Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg State Opera) in 1899, but it disappeared suddenly from the ballet performance schedule in Vienna after 1901.

This study aims to analyze “Die Braut von Korea” based on recently published sheet music as well as articles of newspapers and magazines of the time, and explore why it was abruptly removed from the repertoire of the Imperial Royal Court Theatre in Vienna. First, we review the context in which the piece was produced as well as its popularity and status through the examination of historical records regarding the piece. Then, we discuss its composition and characteristics, and finally, explore the reasons for its sudden disappearance from the ballet repertoire in 1901.

The purpose of this study is to examine the historical background and culture of the four ethnic groups, namely, Mongolian, Uyghur, Tibetan, and Korean-Chinese, and to derive cultural characteristics of their folk dances by examining how their ethnic culture has been embodied in the dances. In China, a multiethnic, multicultural country with 56 ethnic groups, dances performed in each ethnic group is part of life formed based on the cultural and geographical background of the group, and the contents, form, rhythm, and style of the dances were all formed and inherited in various ways due to differences in lifestyle and religious culture. Among those ethnic groups, Mongolian, Uyghur, Tibetan, and Korean-Chinese are the most localized ethnic minorities distributed around China's borders, and their folk dances have spread nationwide faster than those of any other ethnic groups. In order to promote the preservation and development of civil folk dances, it is necessary to examine the folk dances that are currently being preserved and developed and understand their cultural characteristics. By examining these characteristics, this study seeks to contribute to accurate perception of civil folk dances and to their preservation and development.

Through newspaper articles from the 1920s and 30s, this research focuses on the labor and wages of Gisaeng, a group of performers as a modern professional dancer and examines the cases of disputes and struggles facing changes in wage structure and tax system. The wage structure, income change and tax system of Gisaeng were defined, and the conflicts between Gisaeng and restaurants and between Gisaeng and call-offices were examined by region. The main reason of the wage disputes came from the disagreement between Gisaeng and restaurants regarding increase the rate of commission. Wage disputes between Gisaeng and call-offices were because of the unpaid wages by the call-offices. Gisaeng was a subgroup placed in the pyramid structure of labor organization - labor space - labor manager. Their income was distributed through three steps of deduction which are commission paid for restaurants and Gisaeng union as well as tax. However, facing unreasonable commission increase and overdue wages, they allied themselves through demonstrations and strikes to win their own rights and interests. This article broadens the base of research on modern professionals and makes a starting point of modern historical documentation and discussion on the rights, fair treatment, and working conditions of professional dancers.

The purpose of this research is to confirm the value of the New Folk Song Dance in the history of modern Korean dance. Based on literature review and video analysis, this research investigates the characteristics of the New Folk Song Dance by analyzing the dance movements of ‘Cheonan Samgeoli’, ‘Nillilia’, and ‘Cheonyo Chonggak’ in cultural films reproduced under the direction of the Society for Dance Documentation and History. Based on the dance analysis theory of Janet Adshead, the characteristics and values of New Folk Song Dance were explored by analyzing the components of dance (movement, dancer, visual and auditory environment) and the nature of dance (genre and style). The result of this research shows that the New Folk Song Dance has the characteristics of cultural expressions of modern dance through which we can enjoy occidental music as well as traditional one. The dance is composed of simple and repetitive movements as well as a variety of formation, which makes it very easy for the public to learn. This allows us to confirm the value of the New Folk Song Dance as another type of modern dance heritage, ultimately leading us to redefine the perspective of modern dance culture.

This study aims at reevaluating the artistic realism of Choi Seung-hee’s works not only in her full-length dramatic dances after her defection to North Korea but also in her early modern dances with the theme of social participation. The kind of realism that she had pioneered in dance field in 1930 continued into her proletarian dance but discontinued between 1933-1945 due to severe criticism from home and abroad. This study ascribes the undervaluation of her activities in this period to the male mainstream perspective of the society and the decline of proletarian literature. f After her defection to North Korea, Choi’s proletarian dance developed into full-length dramatic dance, which can be referred to as the stage of her completion of socialist realism. The full-length dramatic dance has great meaning in the Korean dance history in that: first, it elevated “dance as art” to a higher level; second, it held a feminist perspective; and third, it achieved a high degree of completion in terms of choreography. Henceforth, Choi Seung-hee’s activities as a pioneering realist dancer in Korea deserves reevaluation in the Korean dance history.