Korean Dance and Music                              

Mark are called tal in Korean, but they are also known by may other names such as kamyon, kwangdae, and other.  Korean masks 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

 Talchum is a popular Korean play that originated during the period of the Joseon Dynasty. Talchum is a mask play where commoners, such as farmers, dance around wildly to a tune to console their anger, sadness, and the vexed realities of life. Therefore, when Talchum was held, the whole villagers would congregate for a day of festivity. The theme of the story is usually based on a nobleman who portrays life under the constraints of the ruling class, cynical remarks of sinful monks, complaints of a corrupted society, and the harsh realities of life. 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.

raditionally, 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, females 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 enthusiastic 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 ecstasy.