The Ex-istence of Modernity in Korean Dance

Korean dance, situated outside the Western-centric paradigm, paradoxically reveals a desire for the center, reinforced by the American academic system that permeates its modernity. While efforts to reconsider this framework confront the hybridity of Korean dance – shaped by traditional values, Japanese colonial intervention, and more – new approaches emerge that challenge medium-specific autonomy. These movements rediscover areas thought erased by modernization, simultaneously offering an escape from Western universalization and advancing towards a new universality. In doing so, they question global asymmetries in dance and explore pathways toward practices of openness amidst tensions between colonial systems and decolonial alternatives.