The current study seeks to provide and examine a new value classification of community dance. Community dance, based on dance education, is an act of interacting with others, discovering oneself anew, and gaining confidence through physical movement. It also represents communication based on social common denominators and restoring of interactions that were cut off by the advancement of information and communication technologies. Community dance in Korea is being utilized in various ways: it is an activity that laypersons engage in to get pleasure, be healed, interact with other people, and learn new things. Community dance may be put into the four following categories. First, ‘community dance as performance’ focuses on producing outputs with a sense of ‘community’ being together. It generates new meaning as members of the general public take part in stage performances. In addition, it has attained artistic value by expressing the zeitgeist of different times through interactions with various generations. ‘Community dance as performance’ is distinct in that it has popularized community dance, bringing professional choreographers close to laypersons who dance. It has also given an enhanced sense of completeness with its orientation as performance. Second, ‘community-centered community dance’ has shared the cultural identity of the community through dance and re-produced different communities. As a dance centered around the community for the people of the community, it can discover unique features of the community and tell stories of the people of the community. Third, ‘community dance for unspecified groups of people’ is one that anyone can Abstract 한국 커뮤니티 댄스의 새로운 가치 분류를 위한 시론 211 participate in. It provides opportunities for people of different generations to interact with one another. This category includes various community dances that are hitherto defined differently, and brings together like-minded communities through dance. Fourth, ‘community dance as dance education’ is part of dance education, and provides a space for people to dance together. It helps people to express themselves better, gain self-confidence, think creatively, and enjoy cultures and arts.

The study aims to explore the function and meaning of Korean community dance. To meet this end, the research was conducted based on interviews with choreographers who participated in community dances and related materials. As its theoretical orientation, this study adopted a phenomenological approach among qualitative research methodologies. Community dance is a process in which the participants are self-driven and understand themselves through a structure led by professional dancers, but it also creates a sense of community awareness and a positive atmosphere. The study also focused on in-depth interviews to explore the function and meaning of Korean community dance in order to ensure the validity of qualitative research. First, community dance cultivates self-awareness of community members through communication structure. Second, community dance provides the basis for discovering new choreography methodologies. Third, community dance enables the discovery of new possibilities of modern dance. Fourth, community dance promotes the re-recognition of the process of completion of works Fifth, community dance encourages the sharing of positive elements of dance. In conclusion, Korean community dance has a variety of functions and meanings. In order for community dance to continue, supports from various agencies, including the program operator and the Cultural Foundation, and the development of choreography methods, and diverse methods of communication with the public are needed.