Seoul-The Korean Information Service (KOIS), in cooperation with DanceForum Magazine, has published a new book entitled Contemporary Dance Scenes of Korea.

This lavishly illustrated text chronicles the rise of Korea’s fastest growing art form from virtual obscurity in the wake of the Korean War (l950-l953) to the prominence and worldwide recognition that it enjoys today. Over the two decades since the late l970s, when there were only a few contemporary dance performances a year, Korean dance has undergone a sea of change, catapulting contemporary dance into a mainstream art form.

During that time, rapid political and social changes fostered greater civil liberties, including freedom of expression, significantly affecting the nation’s artistic atmosphere.

Contemporary Dance Scenes of Korea guides the reader through the events that shaped this transformation, highlighting the personalities who overcame deprivation, censorship and an initially apathetic public to create a vibrant, popular, unique dance form that blends elements of Korean traditional dance with modern Western styles.

Emerging from the destruction of the Korean War, the public and the government had neither the time nor the desire to support any of the arts-especially one as avant-garde and progressive as modern dance. Overcoming many obstacles, a number of persevering artists laid the foundation upon which dance would take root and later flourish.

A "renaissance" came quickly to the Korean art world. Where before dance stages were seldom used except for traditional dance performances, they were soon to become home to a variety of dance genres.

The Culture and Art Almanac, published by the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, revealed that as many as 355 dance performances took place in Korea in l989. The number rose to 778 in l994, of which 342 took place in Seoul; l,278 in l995; 2,002 in l996 and l,938 in l999. By contrast in l978, only 22 performances were held nationwide.

These figures show that an unbelievable explosion of interest in dance has taken place in recent years. Contemporary Dance Scenes of Korea tries to capture the energy, excitement and enthusiasm that has accompanied this evolution. Encompassing all genres of contemporary dance, from the mainstream to the experimental, this 279-page hardcover book include over 200 photographs that bring this simplest yet most beautiful of art forms to life.

The Korean Information Service published this book, comprising eight chapters, to help fans worldwide appreciate the contemporary dance of Korea that can be viewed on theater stages and in many different types of outdoor venues. In this way, both KOIS and the DanceForum Magazine hope to promote an understanding of the contemporary cultural scene in the nation.

To order a copy of "Contemporary Dance Scenes of Korea," or for additional information, please contact"Hollym Corporation: Publishers l3-l3 Kwanchol-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul ll0-lll Tel. (02) 735-755l-4 URL: http://www.hollym.co.kr or Publications and New Media Division, Korean Information Service Tel. (02) 398l-9l0-l2.