This study examines sinmuyong, a core asset of Korean modern dance, from the perspective of contemporary intangible heritage discourse and derives practical tasks for enhancing its cultural heritage value and status. To this end, the study reviews the paradigm shift in cultural heritage concerning modern arts and and substantiates the historical transmission lineage and the tangible existence of works in sinmuyong through literature research and case analysis. The findings confirm that sinmuyong is the product of the an autonomous aesthetics that led to the modern change of tradition and that it sufficiently meets the requirements of “living heritage” through an established transmission lineage and identifiable repertoire.. This study is significant in broadening the horizon of Korean dance heritage by defining sinmuyong as an ongoing, living heritage.

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 focuses on the increasing use of street dance programs in local festivals and aims to identify the background of their growth, utilization effects, and future directions based on the experiences and perceptions of street dance professionals. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with eleven experts involved in festival planning, judging, and performance, and the data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. The findings indicate that the growth of street dance in local festivals was driven by increased media exposure and the development of community-based professional networks. These factors contributed to regional revitalization, audience expansion, broadening the cultural base of street dance, and the formation of compensation structures. However, structural limitations were also identified, including poor performance environments and gaps between festival operation systems and genre-specific expertise, which hinder sustainability. This study demonstrates that street dance functions not merely as performance content but as a participatory cultural resource within local festivals. Furthermore, it highlights the need for stable financial support, collaborative systems with specialized personnel, and long-term operational strategies.

Janggo chum is a dance performed while carrying and playing the janggo. Choe Seunghui re-choreographed the traditional janggo chum she learned from Han Seongjun. Following a separate lineage, the sibiche janggo chum of Gim Chwihong was transmitted through O Cheonhyang, and is now preserved by Han Hye-gyeong. This dance is accompanied by the Gyeonggi folk songs “Hangangsu Taryeong” and “Cheongchun-ga” together with the Seodo folk song “Gin Nanbong-ga,” reflecting the musical background of Gim Chwihong as a Pyeongyang gisaeng skilled in Seodo japga. folksongs of the Northwestern area. The accompanying music exhibits the origin creator of the dance, Gim Chwihong. Gim likely chose Seodo folk songs rather than “Daepungnyu,” the conventional accompaniment for Pyeongyang gisaeng dance. Her original accompaniment was probably replaced by Gyeonggi folk songs that gained popularity, particularly after the wide reception of Han and Choe’s Janggo chum. As Gyeonggi folk songs of the cultural center eclipsed the Seodo repertoire of the periphery, and as the division of Korea further erased the Seodo tradition, the coexistence of both regional folk song traditions in Sibiche Janggo chum likely reflects this historical process of displacement.

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.

This study examines artificial intelligence (AI) discourse in Korean dance studies between 2017 and 2025 from the perspective of human–technological–bodily relational networks and investigates how AI is transforming the discursive structure of the field. To achieve this, phenomenological embodiment theory, posthumanist theory, and technology-mediated art discourse were employed as analytical frameworks, and a qualitative literature review was conducted on thirty-five academic articles published in Korean scholarly journals. The findings indicate that AI functions as an agent mediating bodily experience, creative processes, and modes of reception across the domains of education, creation, and audience engagement. As a result, the body is being reconstituted as a relationally-constituted entity, creation as a collaborative process, and reception as a participatory experience. Overall, AI discourse in Korean dance studies extends beyond discussions of technological application toward an exploration of how meaning is generated through human–technological–bodily relations, representing a discursive shift that calls for a re-examination of the concepts and boundaries of dance studies.

This study aims to examine the cultural relationship between the secularization of Taoism during the Ming dynasty and the formation and development of Haiyang Yangge (a folk dance from Shandong). Combining literature review and fieldwork, the study analyzes the relationship between the spread of secular Taoism in folk society during the Ming dynasty and the formative process of Haiyang Yangge. The study finds that Taoist elements were adopted, transformed, and reconstructed within folk performance traditions. This is manifested in the role structure of yuedafu the Bagua-related spatial organization, and the collective ritual functions associated with the Haiyang Yangge Dragon King ritual. The formation and development of Haiyang Yangge can thus be understood as the result of continuous interaction between Taoism and these folk dance traditions. This study deepens the understanding of the historical formation and cultural identity of Haiyang Yangge, while providing a theoretical foundation for the continuity and transmission of traditional culture in a contemporary context.

This study examines the aesthetic characteristics of the seungmu of Beopu Song Jaeseop, designated as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Daejeon Metropolitan City. Having studied seungmu under Yi Maebang since 1989, Song Jae-seop established his own dance style by adding on his artistic interpretation. Through literature review, analysis of oral data, and comparative aesthetic analysis, this study identifies four aesthetic characteristics of this style. First, the beauty of inward restraint and condensation, which emphasizes stillness and breath before movement. Second, breath-centered physical expression, where deep and slow breathing determines the beginning and end of movements. Third, internal expression through jangsam (long-sleeved robe) that reveals the performer’s inner state rather than visual splendor. Fourth, the synthesis of locality and artistry formed by combining the aesthetic traits of Yi's style with Daejeon's regional characteristics. Consequently, this study confirms that the seungmu of Beopu Song Jaeseop is not a mere regional transmission of the Yi Maebang style, but a unique school reflecting the practitioner's performative life and artistic values.

This article explores the conceptual design and strategy for inscribing “Traditional Dance of Korea” on the Lists under the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Rather than viewing inscription as cultural recognition or artistic evaluation, it examines how living dance practices can be defined, governed, and sustained within the Convention’s normative framework. The study comparatively analyzes dance-related elements on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, classifying them by form, social context, and mediating components such as music, costume, craft, and ritual. It also reviews the case of Modern Dance in Germany to illuminate tensions between artistic genres and community-based cultural practices. The article argues that Korean traditional dance should be presented not as fixed repertoires but as a dynamic assemblage of knowledge, skills, transmission systems, and performance contexts continually recreated by communities. Successful inscription, it contends, requires integrated design encompassing community-centered governance, linkage with national inventories, and safeguarding measures that prevent decontextualization. It concludes by proposing single-state, multinational, and extension pathways, offering scholarly and policy implications aligned with sustainability, cultural diversity, and community agency.