Students of Songhee Lee, Lotus' Drums Along the Hudson 2007,  Inwood Hill Park, NYC

Korean Traditional Dance consists of court dances, religious dances, and a variety of folk dances. While the highly stylized court dances displayed important dimensions of discipline, grandeur, and elegance to create "aestheticism of the inner spirit," folk dances, especially mask dances, showed spontaneity, humor, freedom and satire. The dancers use more of their shoulders, arms, hands and heels with very little leg movement. The most distinguishing features that pervades many forms of Korean dance are the creation of a feeling of suspension, particularly of using the feet, the feeling of heaviness and curvilinear shapes as well as an ongoing quality of energy.

  
Myung Suk Lee and students, Lotus' Dancing Across Cultural Borders 2008, Hudson Guild Theater, NYC

One style of Traditional Korean Dance is called Bumpae, which is Buddhist ritual chant & dance. Myung Suk  Lee is shown performing above with cymbals, or baras.

Instructors:  Songhee Lee