Sharing Cultural Experiences and Performing through Dancing in the Philippines and Korea

Sharing Cultural Experiences and Performing through Dancing in the Philippines and Korea

This study deals with the subjective experience of a computer education professor who came to dance while watching Philippine culture and performances he encountered while working as an IT volunteer in the Philippines and later expanded into creative dance. The researcher collected and organized photos, videos, notes, conversations, and documents mainly used in Philippine schools and IT-related education and event venues from 2002 to 2010 and included more data on the experience of dancing in Korea thereafter. The major interpretive findings revealed in the autobiographical case study approached through art-based research are as follows. First, it was observed that Filipino students and teachers are forming a culture of mutual enjoyment while freely expressing themselves through dance in Philippine schools. They were also very interested in Korean culture, such as Korean fan dance and mask making, and showed a very active attitude toward learning and expressing Korean dance. Second, as a side ac-tivity of the IT volunteer group, I opened my eyes to the Philippine dance culture while appreciating folk and modern dances performed by Filipino students and teachers. These experiences continued for about ten years and led me to expand into my efforts of creating crane dance. Third, we looked at the possibility of cultural and artistic convergence education based on stories about not only Asian school culture but also the ecological environments. Finally, it was proposed that a qualita-tive research methodology be developed to explore contemporary dance experiences related to schools and eco-culture in a unique Asian context.