해방공간기 무용교육연구

Abstract

This paper examines the dance education during the Post‐Liberation Period in Korea (from the end of WWII up to the beginning of the Korean War: August 15, 1945 ~ June 25, 1950), which corresponded with radical changes in contemporary socio‐political circumstances. By doing so, this paper further aims to understand the status and trend in dance education in Korea and make suggestions for future dance education. First, I will examine the trend in socio‐cultural and educational arenas during the Post‐Liberation Period and then, focusing on the organizational activities regarding dance, explore the activities performed by dancers in general; by considering the educational trend in such activities, I attempted to present major features and significance of the dance education during the Post‐Liberation Period. The research has been mostly based on philological sources including biographies, newspapers, magazines, books, etc. From the results of this research, the most conspicuous feature of the dance education during the Post‐Liberation Period turned out to be a methodology to develop the creativity and personality of every individual child, which had been greatly influence by the so‐called ‘new education’ – a newly adopted trend from America at the time. Creative dance was one of the educational forms that well reflected such demands of the Age. In particular, the educational activities exercised by Choseon Educational Dance Institute illustrate the forms and meanings of the dance education during the Post‐ Liberation Period as follows: First, diversity in curriculum divided by four separate departments and separation of theory from practice suggest that the Institute had a systematic curriculum for dance education. Second, the Institute utilized the urhythmic training method based on rhythmic movements, which aimed at physical exercise balanced with feeling, and therefore it paved the way for the creative dance education in the future where individuals’ inner feelings can be freely articulated. Third, the Institute became a predecessor of the Committee for Promoting Dance as Separate Academic Subject and nurtured a number of professional dance educators. The first organization aiming at dance education and the educational dance popularized by Gui‐bong Hahm, Sae‐taek Kim, and Byongwi Lee satisfied the demands of the new education and was developed as a new educational methodology that centers on one’s spontaneity and creativity. Through dance classes, presentations, and art festivals, the dance education during the post‐liberation Period was able to produce more instructors to participate in the educational dance; and further, by insisting that dance be approved as a separate subject in the academic curriculum, it contributed to raising public awareness about dance and promoting its importance as a formal academic subject.