Dance, as the language of art, can reflect beautiful social life. Therefore, the notion that "art originates from life and reflects life" remains a timeless principle for artistic creation, one that should be adhered to both in the past and present. T...
Dance, as the language of art, can reflect beautiful social life. Therefore, the notion that "art originates from life and reflects life" remains a timeless principle for artistic creation, one that should be adhered to both in the past and present. This creative ideology provides the foundation and rationale for Chinese ethnic dance works. Furthermore, in the case of artistic creation, it is essential to artistically refine and elevate the materials left by historical culture to grow with the times. Thus, I believe it is necessary to preserve and inherit the historical images of dance, maintaining their changes and creative methods in line with the times.
The Janggu dance of the Korean Chinese is one of the most characteristic dances of Nongak dance, with a strong performance nature. Korean Chinese dance originated in the vicinity of Yanbian and has been inherited and developed by various dancers such as Choi Seung-hee, Ji Bok-ja, Choi Mi-sun, and Choi Wol-mae. Ji Bok-ja's Janggu dance work "Jangbaek Sangun" is a representative piece of the Korean Chinese Janggu dance, characterized by its smooth, slow yet lively, and cheerful style. It is a work that blends music, dance, and aesthetic sense well. Especially, Ji Bok-ja's "Jangbaek Sangun" has been recognized and loved by the public for its uniqueness, and research on "Jangbaek Sangun" and Ji Bok-ja’s style of Korean Chinese dance can often be seen in the performances and practices of many groups.
Compared to other ethnic groups, the Janggu dance of the Korean Chinese has lacked research on historical inheritance and development in the new era. While some literature research on Korean Chinese dance exists, specific studies on Korean Chinese Janggu dance are almost non-existent. Moreover, most of the literature on Ji Bok-ja focuses on her teachings on Korean Chinese dance, without a detailed exploration of her dance ideology. Therefore, this study has chosen Ji Bok-ja's Janggu dance work "Jangbaek Sangun" as the research subject.
In this study, I used intertextuality to analyze "Jangbaek Sangun" by Ji Bok-ja, dividing it into external elements (con-text) and internal elements (co-text). Based on the dance movements and costumes of "Jangbaek Sangun," I analyzed the symbolic meaning of the theme, the dynamism of the movements based on stage arrangement, and the three stylistic characteristics of stage plasticity based on the formation of dance movements and stage layout. Based on this analysis, I created the piece "Dance of the Heart’s Drum." I hope this study will pave the way for more research on the creative dance works of Ji Bok-ja's style of Korean Chinese Janggu dance.