Hak Yeonhwadae Hapseolmu (Crane Dance and Lotus Flower Dance)

Hak Yeonhwadae Hapseolmu refers to a combined dance performed in the early Joseon court, in which the crane dance (hakmu) and the lotus-platform dance (yeonhwadaemu) were staged one after another, following a ritual held to drive away evil spirits. It consists of hakmu, danced wearing masks shaped like cranes, and yeonhwadaemu, in which child dancing girls (dongi) are born from a lotus flower. It is a distinctive dance expressing a world of communion between animals and humans, of high artistic merit, and it preserves a long history and tradition in both its content and its form. Hakmu is a dance performed wearing crane masks to bless and praise the king; it has been performed in court rites since the Goryeo period, and it is the only dance in Korea performed wearing a bird mask. Yeonhwadaemu tells of two young girls who are born from the stamens of a lotus flower and, moved by the king's virtue, repay his grace through song and dance. Two dancers, dressed head to toe in crane masks, dance and then peck at two flower buds set up beforehand; the lotus flowers open, a girl springs out of each, and the cranes, startled, dash away. The dance the two girls then perform is the yeonhwadaemu. In performance the two dances are inseparably linked, and they have been transmitted together over a long period. Seryeongsan, Samhyeon Dodeuri and Taryeong are used as accompanying music for the crane dance, while only court music is used for the yeonhwadaemu.

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Where it is

Region

Location not stated, Seoul

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산