2242. Korean Lion Dance (Busan, South Korea)

Another act we saw in the traditional music show at Busan Citizens Park on 17th July 2016. We have seen many Chinese lion dances over the years, but this is our first experience of the Korean version. The lion dance was recorded in the Korean historical work "Samguk Sagi" as Sanye (狻猊, the old Chinese word for lion), one of the five poems on the dances of the Silla kingdom written by Choe Chiwon. It may also have been recorded as early as King Jinheung's reign in the 6th century. Two main traditions of lion dance survive in Korea, the "saja-noreum" which is performed as an exorcism drama and uses a brown lion, and the "sajach'um", the one seen here, which is performed in association with masked dramas and uses a white lion. In many of the traditional masked dance dramas, the lion dance appears as one part of a number of acts. (Information from Wikipedia) Lyrics and chords of many of my songs are no longer available, as my website has expired. I am currently posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos and those that are too long to post in full will be found on my new website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com