• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.35
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• pp.287-338
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• 2017

Gojong' Birth Anniversary Memorial Banquet in the 1910s was forced to be performed differently from the performance style in Joseon Dynasty period that featured a harmonious majestic beauty of etiquette music. The banquet was separated into three different sessions of ceremony, luncheon and performance', which clearly revealed a distinctive pattern of etiquette music. The performance was accompanied by the dinner party or was lightly implemented as part of evening entertainment. With the use of the term entertainment, the performances belonging to this category fell into nothing but something to enjoy, amusement, fun and play. The contents of such performances were not closely woven into the fabric of the entire banquet but were individualized and scattered in a way of putting the performances in a state of flux in line with the circumstances. Therefore, it became increasingly hard to expect a high degree of completion and solid structure of performances. The items of performance included western music, popular vocal music, popular instrumental music, magic, and film, which were not played in traditional court banquet in the presence of Gojong rather than traditional music and dance performed in court. In other words, the court performance could not maintain its traditional heritage but was transformed into a mixture of popular performance and new forms of art. It was driven by the Japanese imperialism toward the atmosphere of entertainment in oblivion of tradition but not toward the external extension of court performances.