| Masks
are called t'al in Korean, but they are also known by many other names
such as kamyon, kwangdae, ch'orani, t'albak and t'albagaji. Korean masks
come with black cloth in the back to secure them behind the heads and also
to simulate black hair. T'alch'um, which literally means "mask dance",
is not just a dance performed by masked dancers but is also a drama with
masked characters enacting persons, animals or supernatural being.
Masks
and mask dances developed in Korea as early as the Prehistoric age. The
masks can be categorized in two kinds: religious masks and artistic masks.
Some masks were enshrined in shaman shrines and revered with periodical
offering rites. Other religious masks were used to expel evil spirits like
Pangsangshi, which until recently, were seen at the forefront of a funeral
procession to ward off evil spirits. Artistic masks were mostly used in
dance and drama. However, these also had religious function to some extent.
T'al
not only characterize thier respective roles but also reflect the expressions
and bone structures of Korean faces. Their shapes are grotesque and greatly
exaggerated, and thier colors are deep and bright. This is because t'alch'um,
the mask dance drama, was usually performed at night in the light from
wood fires.
Mask
less powerful in expression and color would have failed to deliver the
themes of the drama. Religious masks and masks for daytime performances
were much less vivid.
Red,
black, white and other primal colors are favored for effective characterization
of the masks. The colors also identify the sex and age of the characters.
An old person's mask is black, whereas that of a young man is red and that
of young woman white. In the traditional philosophy of identifying colors
with directions and seasons, the black stands for the north and winter
whereas the red stands for the south and summer. In many of the t'alch'um
dramas, the young man always wins over the old in a symbolic gesture of
the
summer triumphing over the winter. In this sense, t'alch'um is a vestige
of fertility rites.
Most
of the masks depict human faces but some represent deities, and there are
also masks of animals, real and imagined. An interesting features is that
the masks of yangban, the upper class gentlemen, are almost always deformed
in one way or another with harelips, sometimes cleaved in both upper and
lower lips, a lopsided mouth, a distorted nose or squint eyes-a reflection
of the commoners' hostility toward the privileged class.
Mask-dance
dramas are basically a folk art naturally developed among the common people
of Choson society(1392-1910). They vary slighty according to region and
performer but they all share fundamental charateristics. They are based
on a sense of rebellion felt by the common people toward the reality of
thier lives. Their basic themes are exocism rites, ritual dances or biting
satire and parody of human weaknesses, social and privileged class. Like
the folk literature of the time, it appeals to its audiences by ridiculing
apostate Buddhist monks, decadent noblemen, and shamans. The conflict between
an ugly wife and a seductive concubine is another popular theme.
The
mask-dance drama consists of several acts, but they are quite different
from the acts in modern plays. They are a loose presentation of several
different episodes in an omnibus style.
Because
the lines of the actors have been passed on in oral tradition, they are
quite flexible and subject to improvisation. The dance part also can be
lengthened or shortened freely, so that the entire performance can take
anywhere between three or four hours to the whole night until daybreak.
With
regional variations, the mask-dance drama was generally performed on the
First Full Moon, Buddha's Birthday on the Eighth of the Fourth Moon, Tano
Festival and Ch'usok. It was also performed at festive occasions of the
state or at rituals to supplicate for rain.
Traditionally,
Korean mask-dance drama was always performed outdoors. During Koryo and
Choson periods, it was performed on an improvised stage called sandae or
up on a sloped incline so that the audience in their seats below could
see well. There was a screened area used as a dressing room to the left
of the stage and musicians sat to right of the stage. Actors were all males
until kisaeng, femals entertainers, joined them in modern times to take
up the role of shamans and concubines.
Lively
dance accompanied by vigorous music from three string and six wind and
percussion instruments take up the major part of a mask-dance drama performance,
with actors stopping to deliver their lines with a great deal of gesticulation.
Many of the roles do not have any dialogue of their own but act in pantomime,
their extraordinarily stylized masks delivering the dramatic impact of
their characters. The dance enlivens the drama and functions to round up
each scene but is also performed without any regard to the progress of
the plot.
The
most remarkable feature of Korean mask-dance drama if the enthuisiastic
participation of the audience. Toward the end of a performance there is
little distinction between the actors and the audience as they join together
in robust dance and bring it to a truly affirmative life-enhancing finale.
In Korean mask-dance drama, the common people could vent their frustrations
through comic dramatization and enliven their lives with a collective experience
of ecatasy.
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...Mask
and Dance drama
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