School of Korean Traditional Arts Presents a Six-Hour-Long Royal Court Dance Series

From 20 to 21 May at the Yeak-dang in the National Gugak Center and the Munjeongjeon Hall in the Changgyeong-gung Palace, with the title, “Dear Hyomyeong, The Complete Royal Court Dance Series For You,” the School of Korean Traditional Arts presented the royal palace feast to the Crown Prince Hyomyeong of the Joseon Dynasty. Crown Prince Hyomyeong was a figure who commenced the Renaissance of the royal court dance. The complete version of the event was composed of 36 sets of performances in 5 series. The entire performances were 6 hours long in total. 

On the 20^th, the performers gave the first 23 sets of the “Jeongjae” dance performance series in the Jo-Jinchan (“morning to early afternoon feast”) at 2 p.m., 4 sets of “Jeongjae” in the O-Jinchan (“late afternoon feast”) at 6:30 p.m., and 5 sets of “Changjak” in the Ya-Jinchan (“evening feast”) at 8:30 p.m. On the 21^st at the Munjeongjeon Hall in the Changgyeong-gung Palace, they ran two 4 sets of “Jeongjae” once at 4 p.m. and the other time at 7:30 p.m.

The event followed the tradition of the royal court dances created by Crown Prince Hyomyeong. During the rule of a regent, Hyomyeong designed and dedicated the “Jinjakrye at the Yeongyeong-dang Hall in the Muja Year” to his mother, Queen Sunwon, to celebrate her 40^th birthday in 1828, and the “Ya-Jinchan at the Jagyeongjeon Hall in the Ki-chuk Year” to his father, King Sunjo, to commemorate his 40^th birthday and 30 years of his rule. In addition to the above performances, the School of Korean Traditional Arts presented “Chun Ang Jeon,” known as the pinnacle of the royal palace dance and 3 dance performances categorized under intangible cultural property – Ilmu, Hak-yeon-hwa-dae-hap-seol-mu (“Court Dance of the Crane and the Lotus”), and Cheo-yong-mu (“Dance of Cheo-yong”) – and 5 creative dances, which are Jeongjae! Leading to the Dream Road, Wol-ha (“Under the Moon”), Gong (“Hollow”), Pal (“Eight”), Po! Gu! Rock!

Crown Prince Hyomyeong was a historical figure who led the Renaissance of the royal court feast. He created about 43% of the royal court dances handed down to nowadays according to the historical records of the Joseon Dynasty. The event had significance in attempting in preserving, succeeding, and re-creating the royal court dances. At the same time, for the audience, it was an excellent opportunity to indulge in the royal court feasts from the late period of Joseon, transcending the spatial-time limits.