해외공연이 최승희의 예술세계에 미친 영향

Abstract

This study aims to examine how much Ishii Baku and overseas dance performance tours had impacted Seung-Hee Choiʼs choreography and her unique dance styles. This study also tries to show her contribution to the modernization of Koreaʼs traditional dance. During the Japanese colonial era, Seung-Hee Choi showed the pain of the Korean people who had lost their nation through dancing. This nationalistic aspect was the foundation of her choreography and her dance styles. She was influenced by Ishii Baku who was her Japanese dance teacher. With his influence, she choreographed the new form of Korean modern dance styles by incorporating Korean traditional dance movements to her own creative style. After overseas tours of dance performances in the U.S.A., Europe, and South America from 1938 to 1940, Seung-Hee Choi realized that her dance styles incorporating traditional Korean dance movements are more acclaimed by the foreigners than the domestic audiences. Thus, she decided to develop her own unique dance styles more incorporated with traditional Korean dance. Furthermore, she wants to establish East Asian dance styles. Choi tried to establish ʻʻChoi Seung-Hee East Asian Ballet Foundationʼʼ for a systematic study of Asian dances. However, her venture failed because the social and political milieu was not conducive at that time. This study confirms that Isihe Baku and the American dance tour had significant influences on building Choiʼs own dance styles. In the American and European dance tours, she introduced ʻʻBosalchumʼʼ and ʻʻChoripdong,ʼʼ which showed Korean national emotions and attracted the interest of Western ballet groups that tried to incorporate the nationalistic materials into the modern dance. During the South American dance tour, she expressed mistery and beauty of Asia by harmonizing Korean traditional dance movements and Western dance styles. After she recognized that traditional Korean dance movement attracted foreign interests, she devoted herself to internationalize Korean modern dance, which eventually became the foundation of Korean modern dance and modernized Korean traditional dances. With her own artistic ideas, she constantly created dance works. Therefore, she deserves to be recognized as one of the most significant figures in Korean dance history in spite of the political ideology and her achievements should be taught to the young generation.