This study aims at the description of ecological connection between body and earth(nature) through dances, rituals, and body movements. Referring to some dance studies which assume the body-earth connection as a lever for the realization of ecological relationality, this article illuminates some cases of ecologically related dances, rituals and body movements. In the first, this article reviews recent discourses of philosophy, anthropology, and dance studies on ecological consciousness, experience, ontology, and ecosomatic perception. Recent academic discourses emphasize that the connection is realized by the non-hierarchical relation, free from the perspective of dualism, between human being and ‘more-than-human’ world. Secondly, this article describes concrete cases. The cases show participants’ experiences of various ways or modes of connection, respectively; attentive efforts toward subtle energy in connection, immersion into the ecological world, surrender to earth, sensing reciprocity, realization of body as microcosm of earth, becoming other being and ontological transformation. In sum, this study describes people’s experience of the ecological world connected by dances, rituals and body movements.

This study is on the eco-art from two dimensions, intentional and unintentional. As the cases of unintentional eco-art, the summer and winter ceremonies of Kwakiutl on west of Canada, written by Eric Wolf, and the winter ceremony Smila(Spiritual Dance) and related dances of Chehalis Indian Band are being considered. Unintentional conceptualization and realization as eco-art are investigated. The other one is on the intentional trials in contemporary societies for the integration of ecology and art. Cases of ‘performing nature’ are interpreted. Maehyang ceremony in Muan-gun tidal flat and related dance are considered. Rituals of Kwakiutl and Chehalis tell dances, as essences of rituals and as the subjects of expressions and communications, exist. The dances exist as the arts realizing relations between natural beings and human beings, realizing the transformation of natural beings, of human beings, of relations between human beings. Ecological relation between nature and man are realized from the immediate feeling and perception of bodily experience. The meanings of the relation are also produced from the feeling and perception. The term and concept of eco-art do not exist in these rituals. But realizing process of ecological relation and interaction is also the one of eco-art unintentionally. Body and dance are main subject and mediate of the process. Recently eco-art, the term has been used by some scholars and artists. But, in many cases the term is not used actually realizing eco-art. Some trials of modern art as ‘performing nature’, Maehyang ritual and dance as reinvented one composed of partial ideas from trasitional one are those realizing the issues and ideologies intentionally. As common phenomena in the two dimensions eco-art expresses ecological ‘relations’, not merely depicting nature. Commonly too, materiality of body and things on nature and human life, feelings and perception of them form the ecological relation.

This study is a methodology to establish a basic concept of aesthetics of the Korean dance. By examining main concepts of Korean traditional ideas, this study aims to explore the concept of aesthetics in Korean dance in a systematic way. In particular, it interprets the Korean dance based on the foundation of humanities. Accordingly, the study is significant in developing the system of aesthetics of the Korean dance by suggesting philosophical foundations of the Korean dance through the aesthetics study and through history and traditional ideas rather than limited interpretation within the scope of broad east and western aesthetics. The study was progressed in a 3-stage research design. The first stage was to extract the prototype of the ancient arts from Korean national culture in order to comprehend the prototype of the Korean dance. In the first place, examine the original flow of the Korean ideas embedded in the national foundation myths, legend and ancient heavenly ritual, and the study analyzed related languages and terms, then able to expose the clue of the esthetics of the Korean dance. The second stage was examining the spirit of the Korean Dance from the national’s original flow which is embedded in the legend and ancient heavenly ritual, i.e through the world view of ancestors who worshiped the sun and served the heavenly god. And explored the boundary of aesthetics of the Korean dance over ‘Poongryudo’ that is based in the aesthetics of the Korean dance. Lastly, in the third stage, the study establish the basic concept of aesthetics of the Korean Abstract 82 제41호dance from reviewing how the logic of aesthetic ideas, which were generated from specific traditional dances such as Salpurichum, Chunaengjeon and mask dance, granted value in aesthetic sentiment and concept. Aesthetics of the Korean dance is the aesthetics of harmony under the human centered ideas, the aesthetics of freedom which is surrealistic directly related to our life and goes beyond time and space, and the aesthetics of weighing high on the livelihood. Such aesthetics could form today’s aesthetics value and concept by repeated periodic communication. The basic concept of aesthetics of the Korean dance is divided by ‘Sitgim(washed)’ that is reached to god’s purification to release resentment, sorrow, and the dark-side, and ‘Poongryu(tasteful)’, which purposed for purify by lightness, harmonize, animateness, extemporization, flavor, pleasure, etiquette music, and light-hearted, etc. These concepts are generated from the national original culture, can be find from the original flow and the ancient heavenly ritual, and ultimately, both are seeking for the stage of a unity of heaven and man from the purification.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of Mu-ui (舞義, ritual of dance) by Seong Gyeong-rin in dance history and its value as Holgi (笏記, scroll document). This study identified the characteristics of the Japanese colonial period Jangsaengboyeonjimu (長生寶宴之舞, Dance of longevity) by comparing the record in Mu-ui to that in Jeongjaemudogholgi (呈才舞蹈笏記, scroll document of court dances). First, the costumes of dancers were five colors, and second, the song Changsha expresses simplification and degraded expression. Third, there was a slight difference in composition at the end. Fourth, in the dance, the order of the nine-sided dance was all the same, so there was no big change, but dance details were added to Mu-ui or little details were recorded. Fifth, there was a change in notation, but most of them had the same meaning or dancing. Those findings indicate that Mu-ui by Seong Gyeong-rin has the following values and significance in the dance history. First, it holds its value as a Holgi of Yiwangjikaakbu (李王 職雅樂部, the downgrated insitution of Jangakwon). Second, it offers information about the changes of court dance by Yiwangjikaakbu during Japanese colonial period. Finally, it enables the reproduction of Yiwangjikaakbu’s court dance by Mu-ui.