Buchaechum - Korean traditional fan dance

The Korean Fan Dance so called Buchaechum is one of the most popular and well-known movement pieces from Asia. The bright pink fans and dresses combined with graceful movement have thrilled audiences all over the world.

The origins of Buchaechum are a combination of politics and religion. The court of the Cho-Sen dynasty was the basis for the intricate costuming and very precise movements. However, the movements themselves evoke natural phenomena, from the color and fringes of the peony-colored fans, to the many formations that recall blooming trees, flowers, and natural waves. This choreography and costuming are closely related to the shamanic religious tradition of the Korean spiritual beliefs.

Buchaechum dancers all wear identical costumes. The main costume is the dangui, a coat and skirt with long, flowing sleeves and a phoenix embroidered on the front and back. Dancers all hold large fans that are painted with bright images of flower blossoms which help with some of the movements. Topping it off is a headdress that resembles a golden tiara, called the jokduri, which is the traditional marriage head piece. The dancers perform on a bare stage usually, brightly lit so that their choreography can stand on its own with nothing to distract from it.

The beginning of the dance shows the dancers all posed in stillness, their fans held up in front of their faces. One solitary dancer reveals her face, and rises, moving the fans gracefully around her face and body. Gradually, the dancers around her begin to move their fans as well, as if waking up from sleep. Eventually, all twenty or so dancers are up, moving around the stage, and the original soloist tends to get lost as all of the identically-costumed performers go through the steps.

A moment later, all the dancers are in a line downstage near the proscenium line, doing a "wave" that reflects the tide of the ocean with a liquid grace as the fans raise and lower in perfect synchronization. There are many more movement combinations, sometimes filling the stage with color and motion and sometimes contracting into tight balls of stillness, buzzing with potential energy.