"Sadang Dance" Restored

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"Sadang dances contained many movement patterns characteristic of our nation, expressing the national feelings of cheerfulness."

In the Middle Ages, a civilian art organization called Sadang groups were organized and widely active in our country. Professional dancers and singers were included in Sadang groups. In those days, the men who danced and sang in Sadang groups were called Sadang. They visited villages and danced and sang in the yards of the houses. They didn't dance in a certain style, but they played an improvised and witty dance that matched a certain game. Sadang dances contained many movement patterns characteristic of our nation, expressing the national feelings of cheerfulness. Therefore, in those days, the artistic activities of Sadang groups were conducted across the country including the rural areas and still active recently.

In 1961, the artists in the National Dance Theatre (then) discovered the dance performed by Sadang groups and produced a work "A triad dance". This work was performed by two male dancers and one female dancer in Sadang costume.

Photo. A triad dance

However, some officials who were not aware of the meaning of the term "Sadang", forbid "Sadang Dance" as they thought it was danced in temples. As "temple" and "Sadang" are homophones in Korean, it caused such a misunderstanding.

President Kim Il Sung who knew the situation said in his speech "On Some Questions about Dealing with Our National Cultural Heritage" at an official's meeting in the fields of science and education and art on February 17, 1970, that although the dances such as "Sadang Dance" were played in the palace or temples in the past, they should not be eliminated but should be inherited as the moves of the dances were in conformity with the feelings and mood of the Korean people.

The President said that, some people who were unaware of the meaning of the term "Sadang", forbid the dance as they thought it was danced in temples although "Sadang Dance" was beautiful and were in conformity with the feelings of our people.

And he also said that "Sadang" did not mean "temple" but "the group of clowns" and that in the past, there was no term "actor" in our country and the people who danced and sang were called clowns. He even indicated that "Sadang Dance" was the dance of the clowns.

The President said that in order to develop our national dance, as it was not easy to create a dancing move, the old dancing moves should be inherited as many as possible.

He also said that some officials, while simplifying the dancing moves, were abandoning the dancing moves from the past, and stressed that it would lead to the extinction of the national dances.

Chairman Kim Jong Il said that "Sadang Dance" was not a work of a certain style but was a dance with simple and beautiful moves consisting of impromptu and witty actions and a dance full of national pleasure in his talk "On Proper Evaluation and Treatment of the Cultural Heritage of Our Nation with a Correct Viewpoint and Attitude" with officials of the propaganda and agitation department.of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on March 4, 1970.

He said that if we got rid of the literary works from the past for the reason that they had feudal and capitalist elements in them, there would be nothing left in our history and Korean people would be regarded to have created nothing in the past.

Then, he said that if the name "Sadang Dance" was not easy to be understood, it might be called "A triad dance".

On March 5, 1970, Chairman Kim Jong Il saw a rehearsal of the music and dance performance of the International Women's Day, and told the officials and creators in the field of art and literature that the progressive and popular national cultural heritage should be handed down critically in conformity with the taste and revolutionary requirements of the present era by distinguishing the progressive and popular national cultural heritages from the old and reactionary ones.

He said that it would be good to include the "Sadang Dance", a work mentioned by the President, in the performance.

Chairman Kim Jong Il met the senior officials on April 11, 1971, and said that the dances such as the masked dance, "Sadang Dance" and the Buddhist dance should not be abandoned simply for the reason that they had the limitations of the times and the entertaining and superstitious elements caused by the limitations of the creators' world-viewpoints.

He emphasized that beautiful dancing moves and acts which showed the wisdom and artistic talent of our people should be discovered and developed to meet the demands of the times and the aesthetic tastes of our people.

Thanks to the warm love of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il, who were making painstaking efforts to discover and develop all the dancing moves reflecting the wisdom and talents of the nation and the rich and beautiful emotions of Korean people, "Sadang Dance" which had disappeared developed into "the triad dance" which met the demands of the present era and requirements of the revolution.

And it became famous across the world through a number of performances in foreign countries and international art festivals as well as being loved by our people.