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A Study on the Dramatic Functions of the Dances Featured in the Musical

CHUNG, EUI SOOK 1,  Mijung Roh 1

1성균관대학교

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the dramatic functions of the dances featured in the musical West Side Story , which was first put on the stage in 1957,based on an analysis on the piece, with regard to the fact that the dances in the said musical above not only function as a decorative element but also have, to some extent, some influence on the delivery of the story and the expressions thereof. It is essential in producing a musical piece to understand the importance of the functions and the roles of the dances, as it helps using other elements of the piece more efficiently when organizing them as a whole. Since musical is a performing art in which the dances, performances, and the music are joined together to deliver the theme of the drama, the dances can take a very importance position in the production of the pieces and delivering them to the audience as they are of universal nature as a body language and at the same time unique in their expressions. As we analyzed the dramatic function of the dances in the musicals based on the four theories by Lisa Jo Sagolla, an American academic, we found out that, firstly,in its function in unfolding the plot, the dances in the musical are illustrative and help expressing the drama in a more interesting and easier manner, since the dances are universal languages. Secondly, in describing the characters, the dances in the musical present the inner world to the audience where it cannot be done effectively with other means of expressions, such as the lines and verbal languages. Also, in its moodbuilding feature, the dance uses historically evidenced movements in terms of the time and space to build the kind of mood required in a specific context over a very short time. The dance also plays the role of giving shapes to the theme of the piece,visualizing the complicated themes of the pieces to present them in elaborated manners. As we can see here, the dances in the musicals are of course important as they are, but also they help other genres in the piece bond together with each other to make it a more robust experience. Therefore, in order to facilitate such functions of the dances, it is necessary that not only the choreographer, but also any other staffs involved in production need to understand what they are all about. To let the dances restore theses functionalities, it is a priority to establish specialized training institutes to train choreographers or develop separate programs to train them within the university curriculum. If there are professional training courses available to be a musical choreographer, it would be of great assistance to train and educate those experts.

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