This study is to analyze the movements of Yeombulgwajang, a section in Seungmu, a Korean traditional dance, from a perspective of Greimas’ semiotics. For the analysis of the study, the movement principles of “contraction and expression” and “tying and untying,” which were derived from the philosophies of Yin-Yang and Reincarnation embedded in Seungmu, were discussed through the idea of Greimas’s semiotic square. The relationships between contraction and expression and between tying and untying are deemed to be confrontational; the relationships between expression and untying and between contraction and tying are regarded as hypothetical; the relationships between tying and expression and between contraction and untying are seemed to be contradictory. The meanings of the dance may be formed and interpreted diversely based on the various combinations of these elements. The study contributes to demonstrating a new way of interpreting inherent meanings in Seungmu.

The purpose of this study was to investigate trends in male choreographers’ work in Korean dance, as demonstrated in “12 Korean Contemporary Dance Choreographers’ Showcase.” For this study, the researcher observed the showcase before collecting and organizing critiques about the showcases from dance magazines, such as 󰡔Auditorium󰡕, 󰡔Performance and Review󰡕, 󰡔Dance Forum󰡕, 󰡔MOMM󰡕, 󰡔Dance Korea󰡕, 󰡔Dance󰡕, and 󰡔Dance and People󰡕. These articles were collected from performance pamphlets and related news in the 1990s or earlier from the Internet News Libraries (newslibrary.naver.com). The researcher also interviewed and communicated via email with the choreographers who participated in the showcase. The interviews included questions about background information in creating the work, the focus of the dances, and their points of view. From 1987 to 2005, a total of 15 male choreographers in Korean dance participated in”12 Korean Contemporary Dance Choreographers’ Showcase,” composing a total of 26 performances. Gook Soo-Ho participated in the showcase eight times, including two repeat performances. As this showcase emphasized premieres, Jeong Jae-Man had three performances, Chae Sang-Mook had two performances, and Kim Yong-Cheol had two performances. The Other 11 choreographers had one performance each. The choreographers demonstrated various themes in “12 Korean Contemporary Dance Choreographers’ Showcase.” Performances with the themes of fraternity and love for family included “By the River in North Korea” by Gook Soo-Ho and “Share” by Kim Seung-Il. Performances with themes of nihil and samsara included “Empty Boat,” “Gook Soo Ho’s Bolero,” “Garden of God Ⅰ- Nought (無)”by Gook Soo-Ho and “Mind Purifying Music” by Chae Sang-Mook. “Dance in the Sky” by Jeong Jae-Man illustrated the pursuit of an ideal, whereas “Sound of Dried Wild Flowers” by Chae Sang-Mook and “Light Wind” by Kim Yoon-Soo tried to overcome reality. There were also themes of exorcism (ritual ceremony) for the repose of souls: “Meditation of Myeonam” by Gook Soo-Ho, “Fever” by Im Gwan-Gyu, “Like Butterflies” by Lee Hong-Jae, and “Black Exorcism” by Kim, Yong-Cheol. Finally, there were themes of discovery of the ego and self-training, including “Danya (Red Bellow)” by Kim Yong-Cheol, “Shadow” by Kim Jeong-Hak, “Sad Song” by Han Sang-Geun, “Ego” by Lee Gyeong-Soo, and “Far Away” by Kim Nam-Yong. Since 1987, male choreographers in Korean dance have demonstrated unique performances in “12 Korean Contemporary Dance Choreographers’ Showcase,” presenting dance performances with religious and philosophical speculation. Generally, they emphasize themes about human beings and the environment. There are fewer female choreographers in Korean dance than male choreographers. However, female choreographers also try to show their spirit based on their lifestyles and experiences. As choreographers in Korean dance, they adopted the division of Korea and the Korean environment as a theme rather than showing the uniqueness of Korean traditional dance movements in developing Korean contemporary dance techniques.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the dance life history of Jeong Jae-man (鄭在晩, 1948-2014) based on the documents. This study was to lay the foundation for future studies in order to overcome the limitations of insufficient historical data on Jeong Jae-man's dance due to his sudden death and the lack of theoretical background for posthumous studies on his dance. The data used for this study was collected from research data, media articles, interviews and other materials, the research method was studied by classifying chronological order in the total form, which is the method of text analysis in the study of living history. As a result, the dance life history of Jeong Jae-man was divided into five categories: the first period ‘Growth’, the second period ‘Activity’, the third period ‘Career-Building' and the fourth period of ‘Handing down', and the fifth period of ‘Transmission'. The study is expected to provide useful academic data to his junior colleagues who preserve and transfer his dance and to serve as an evaluation reference in analyzing the historical flow of intangible culture. The study is expected to provide useful academic data to younger generation of students who suceeed and preserve and his dance and to serve as an evaluation reference in analyzing the historical trend of flow of intangible cultural assets.