This study aims to examine the aesthetic characteristics of body imagery in contemporary ballet through an analysis of Alexander Ekman’s “Play,” focusing on Gilles Deleuze’s concept of the Body without Organs (BwO). Through a literature review of Deleuze’s concept of the body and theory of art, five characteristics of body imagery were derived: disarticulation, expansion, decentering, body transformation, and body abstraction. These categories were grounded in Deleuze’s concepts of articulation, becoming, multiplicity, affect, and the virtual. Applying this analytical framework, the study found that, while grounded in traditional ballet technique, “Play” embodies these characteristics through the segmentation and reconstruction of the body, the displacement of the bodily center, and the body’s integration with space and objects. This study is significant in offering a theoretical basis for discussing the identity of contemporary ballet by interpreting body image in Ekman's Play from Deleuze's philosophical perspective.

This study, focusing on the Lion Dance Act of Bukcheong Saja Noleum, explores the potential of traditional arts as creative resources in contemporary performing arts. The research employed a comparative cultural case study in conjunction with creative practice research. First, a review of literature and analysis of video materials examined the performance structure, dance movements, and symbolic system of the lion dance. Second, the researcher’s own choreographic practice, transformed the traditional movements and reconfigured them into new choreographic vocabularies. The findings revealed, first, that the themes, spatial pathways, music, and costumes of the lion dance were reconstructed in the creative work Lion Play, and second, that expressive symbolism emerged, highlighting apotropaic functions, reconciliation and coexistence, and the festive spirit of community. This study demonstrates how traditional arts can generate new meanings and aesthetic values within the language of contemporary dance, while also identifying points of connection between tradition and modern performance. Furthermore, it suggests the potential of traditional heritage-based dance creation to expand artistic practices and to serve as foundational resources in production, planning, and education within the performing arts.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the realistic characteristics of Grotesques Realism in the Songpa Sandae Play, which is one of the Korean mask dancing, by applying Bakhtin's theory. In particular, this study analyzes focusing on interpreting the components of the dancing body as the meaning of "becoming“ The section III analyzes the components of the body, dance, props such as the mask and a doll, the accompanied music, and spatial structure with the framework identified in the discussion on Grotesque Realism. Ultimately, the essence of the grotesque realism of the Songpa Sandae play is to interpret the performer as a leading figure in generating the people's laughter and creating the people culture. Therefore, the study on dance of mask dance that cannot exist beyond the body of the performer needs to be treated with special importance.

The essay starts with a reference to the rhetoric of nationalism around a recent event when Draupadi, an adaptation of the translation of Mahasweta Devi’s short story by the same name was staged as a play, by the students of an Indian University. The subsequent hate campaign and politicisation of a class presentation in the University shook many people in gender and feminist studies. The reading of the play as anti-national and not recognising its importance within the discourses within studies on gender, civil rights or English literature was seen as an extension of the political propaganda in the society. In light of such complete marginalisation of issues of violence on women, this paper tries to bring together different ways in which the woman named Draupadi becomes represented in performances around her in India - travelling across time and geopolitical spaces–where again Draupadi surfaces as a character depicting strong resistance against army atrocities. In its non-linear narrative, it attempts to see Draupadi’s travel through time and space of performative representations as choices of reflections put forward by performers–thus giving her a specific role as the representative of women as vulnerable subjects in Indian society. The paper draws on examples from dance and theatre that are directly based on the story of Draupadi, a central female figure in the Indian epic. It also draws on the story “Draupadi” written by Mahasweta Devi (translated by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak) and its theatrical rendition. Finally, it looks at a real life situation in Manipur, and its possible connection to the theatrical representation it came to resemble. This paper is written to reflect upon the position of women in the context of national honour and hegemonic structure of patriarchy, taking the story of Draupadi and its after-Life.