1. Choi Seung-hee was a leading Korean modern dancer.
58 Facts About Choi Seung-hee
1. 2.
Choi Seung-hee was born into a yangban-class family in Seoul, Korea during the colonial period, and was known by the Japanese pronunciation of her name, Sai Shoki.
3.
Sai is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character for Choi Seung-hee, and was not considered Japanese.
4.
Choi Seung-hee passed seventh amongst 860 applicants, but was rejected due to her age.
5.
Choi Seung-hee Seung-il was part of the Korea Artist Proletariat Federation, and had many connections in both Japan and Korea to journalists and intellectuals.
6.
Choi Seung-hee was mesmerized by Baku Ishii's performance, especially at his expressions of darkness and torment.
7.
Choi Seung-hee did not have the sufficient salary to give to his dancers.
8.
Choi Seung-hee differentiated herself from traditionalism, but from the new women who specifically identified breaking jeongjo as a more modern practice.
9.
Choi Seung-hee was seen as an entertainer in the eyes of many Koreans rather than as a modern artist.
10.
Choi Seung-hee did not initially intend to study Korean dance at first, as the Korean society did not hold dance to the esteem of fine art; instead, dance was seen as a lowly form of entertainment associated with the gisaeng.
11.
Choi Seung-hee began to perform Korean folk dances during this time in Korea.
12.
Choi Seung-hee became drawn to the Japanese metropolis after a cultural bloom in the 1930s, she found work and artistic opportunities by appealing to Japanese audiences by using colonial traditions.
13.
Choi Seung-hee returned to Japan with her daughter and with a student from her disbanded institute, Kim Min-ja.
14.
Choi Seung-hee continued to study under Ishii where she distinguished herself as a talented dancer.
15.
Choi Seung-hee developed her own modern dances inspired by Korean folk dances, which had been considered by a lot of the Koreans as lowly works.
16.
Theater organizations in Japan supported Choi Seung-hee and used her image as a colonial woman.
17.
The portrayal of Choi Seung-hee's image coincided with the rapid expansion of media and entertainment during wartime, effectively utilizing Choi Seung-hee's fame for political gain.
18.
Choi Seung-hee's work became a tremendously popular cultural phenomenon in Japan at the time, with Japanese imperialism playing a pivotal role in shaping colonial culture.
19.
Choi Seung-hee had already seen the sword dances of the shamans and the kisaengs in Korea.
20.
Choi Seung-hee used the money that she earned from modelling to fund her performances.
21.
Not long after her return from Taiwan, Choi Seung-hee bought a two-story mansion in Tokyo.
22.
Choi Seung-hee was supported by numerous Japanese intellectuals, including Yasunari Kawabata, and corresponded with both Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso.
23.
Choi Seung-hee was a vocalist, and made recordings at Taepyeong Records and Kirin Records, before making her 1936 album Garden of Italy at Columbia Records Japan.
24.
Choi Seung-hee described it as a great representation of Asian people looking to form Great Asia under Japanese Rule.
25.
Choi Seung-hee performed as a Japanese dancer yet it was believed she sympathized with Korea and she was esteemed by Koreans.
26.
Choi Seung-hee was the first female dancer in colonial Korea to perform outside of her country, even though Japan did not allow for dances to express resentment or resistance towards the Japanese Empire.
27.
Choi Seung-hee's performance played with the boundaries that are limited by language and dialect.
28.
Choi Seung-hee's performances served as carriers of propaganda across the Japanese empire.
29.
Choi Seung-hee was unlike other dancers because of her identity as a Korean dancer in a Japanese troupe.
30.
Choi Seung-hee's performances were held in San Francisco, in Los Angeles, and in New York City.
31.
In 1939, in an international dance competition in Brussels, Belgium, Choi Seung-hee was appointed as one of the judges along with Rudolf von Laban, Mary Wigman, Serge Lifar, and Anton Dolin.
32.
Picasso sketched a drawing of Choi Seung-hee and gave it to her after her performance.
33.
Everyone whom Choi Seung-hee met in France believed that there would not be another world war.
34.
Choi Seung-hee was expecting to perform in Italy, Northern Germany, and Scandinavia.
35.
Choi Seung-hee continued her performing tour in the United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.
36.
In 1943, Choi Seung-hee began a series of 130 performances with the goal of comforting soldiers in Manchuria, Korea, and northern and central China.
37.
Some postcolonial critics in Korea argue that Choi Seung-hee was forced to serve soldiers by the Japanese colonial regime.
38.
Choi Seung-hee performed dances inspired by Korea folk dance as well as Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and Siamese influenced dances.
39.
Choi Seung-hee witnessed the turmoil of the Chinese Civil War.
40.
Choi Seung-hee stayed hidden in fear that she would be accused of being a supporter for Japan.
41.
Choi Seung-hee asked US Lieutenant General John R Hodge for financial support in her arts, but did not get any further details from him.
42.
Choi Seung-hee went to Rhee Syngman before he was president.
43.
Choi Seung-hee went to Pyongyang, North Korea with her husband who was an active supporter of the Workers' Party of Korea.
44.
Choi Seung-hee established a dance school and was given an official position within the North Korean administration.
45.
On July 25,1947, Choi Seung-hee sent her daughter, her sister-in-law, and her students to Prague, Czechoslovakia to perform in an international youth dance festival.
46.
In January 1951 The Chinese Ministry of Culture invited Choi Seung-hee to move her dance institute to Beijing.
47.
On March 15,1951, Choi Seung-hee opened her dance academy in Beijing.
48.
Choi Seung-hee was required to add Chinese dances to her curriculum.
49.
Choi Seung-hee's program is credited with introducing a way of categorizing folk dance and classical dance, that was focused on the source of the material and not the age of the material.
50.
Choi Seung-hee was well known by the Chinese dancers of that time as someone who deeply influenced the way the Beijing opera was taught.
51.
In July 1951, Choi Seung-hee brought her dance group to Moscow to perform.
52.
Choi Seung-hee returned to North Korea when the war was still raging on.
53.
Choi Seung-hee sent her daughter to study in The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.
54.
Choi Seung-hee proposed an economic and cultural exchange with Japan.
55.
In October 1999, a defector named Kim Yong said that Choi Seung-hee was imprisoned in the same concentration camp that he was in.
56.
Choi Seung-hee often incorporated traditional elements such as hanbok into her performances, but adapted them with contemporary cuts and fabrics, showcasing her unique interpretation of Korean identity.
57.
Choi Seung-hee complimented her ensembles with luxurious fur coats, which added a touch of glamour and warmth.
58.
Choi Seung-hee was known for accessorizing with stylish hats, which were popular at the time and served to enhance her chic appearance.