[News Culture] A fall performance that brings Korean royal court music and Western ballet onto the same stage is set to open at Gyeongbokgung Palace. Framed around the meeting point between classical ballet and traditional Korean sound, “Ballet x Sujecheon” will show how two distinct art forms can merge inside one of Seoul’s most historic palace settings.
The Korea Heritage Service’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, together with the Korea Heritage Agency, will present the 2026 second-half Palace Concert “Ballet x Sujecheon” from Oct. 2 to 5 at Jibokjae in Gyeongbokgung Palace, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Performances will begin at 7 p.m. each evening.
As its title suggests, the production centers on the encounter between sujecheon and ballet, while broadening its musical range this year to include folk songs, Chimhyangmu and samulnori. Sujecheon, a form of Joseon-era royal court music, was historically used as accompaniment for court dances and royal ceremonial movement. Today, it is regarded as one of the representative pieces of Korean jeongak instrumental ensemble music, known for its slow, fluid rhythmic structure and its relay-like melodic flow led by the piri and continued by other instruments.
The new edition turns that musical identity into movement by reimagining ballet vocabulary through the phrasing and cadence of traditional Korean music. It also connects the formal imagery of jeongjae, Korea’s court dance tradition, with the physical language of ballet.
The program is divided into three sections. The first, “Ballet Jeongjae,” combines court music and classical ballet, including Yeongsin Huimun from Botaepyeong of Jongmyo Jeryeak. The second, “Ballet Fantasy,” pairs folk songs with romantic ballet and also links Chimhyangmu with ballet. The third, “Ballet Binari,” closes the evening with a fusion of samulnori rhythms and contemporary ballet.
More than 90 artists will take part in the production, including the Korea National University of Arts K-Arts Ballet, the Sujecheon Project and Yeonhui Company Yuhee. Ballet dancers, gugak musicians and traditional performance artists will shape each section together through music and movement.
The production is directed by Cho Joo-hyun, a professor in the School of Dance at Korea National University of Arts. A former principal dancer with the Washington Ballet, Cho received the 2024 Dance Critics Award for Best Production for “Ballet x Sujecheon.”
What gives the performance its appeal is the way its emotional tone shifts with the music. From the meeting of court music and classical ballet in the opening section, the performance moves through the lyricism of folk songs and romantic ballet, then arrives at the dynamic collision of samulnori and contemporary ballet in the finale.
Its venue is also central to the experience. At Jibokjae in Gyeongbokgung Palace, audiences will encounter not only a dialogue between music and dance, but also a conversation with place itself, where the atmosphere of the palace becomes part of the performance.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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