Chairman
"Already in the remote past, our people created their excellent national dances by describing their creative life with beautiful and graceful rhythms, and developed it."
Our people with a long history spanning five thousand years and glorious cultural traditions have created a number of admirable native dancing legacies that suit their sentiments and tastes by displaying their outstanding wisdom and talents throughout their creative activities to reform the nature and the society. One of them is "Tondolari Dance".
It is a peculiar folk dance widely performed in several areas of Hamgyong Province in the past.
In the past, whenever it was the season of new plants sprouting, the women in Pukchong area of Hamgyong Province used to gather to dig up giant garlics and dance joyfully on the sand-hill or at the bank of Namdaechon in Sokhu, which was called giant garlic site play. And the dance was named "Giant Garlic Dance". It was also called "Tondolari Dance" as it was danced to the folk song "Tondolari".
At first, it was the one danced by women only but it has gradually developed into a more popular one with also men joining.
"Tondolari Dance" is performed in the form of a circle dance with certain procedures. When people sit around the stage, a few of them come out and start dancing. Meanwhile the others enliven the entertainment by singing and clapping. As it rises high, one or two join the dance in succession. At first, they begin with their own random dance and then naturally draw a circle to make a formation as if they've already promised. This kind of dance formation may involve several layers or be split into separate circles with a good dancer leading the dance in the center. When the dance reaches its climax, they also make "Mudong"(one person stands up another one on his shoulders) in the center of the circle.
"Tondolari Dance" has unique characteristics in its dance moves. They are impressively remarkable in attractive walks, smart and flexible wrist spins and active arm turns-the move of walking in shallow bends after the first large step in a deep bend, the move of waving arms flexibly in folds from side to side before finishing by stretching wrists, the move of lightly covering the face by spinning wrists while shaking the body softly from side to side, the move of running past shaking arms energetically forward and backward, which is in contrast to the former one, and the move of making a rhythm by beating a gourd turning the body rapidly with the knees on the ground or twisting the waist, etc. Such dance moves, unable to be found in other dances, give full play to the rhythmical charm and features of "Tondolari Dance". In this way, the dance displays its peculiar features visually and remarkably in the moves, which is why it is of dark local color.
The music and rhythm made by beating a gourd play a crucial role in "Tondolari Dance".
"Tondolari Dance" is rhythmically joyful and of unique local taste. Such emotional features are properly ensured by the tune and the rhythm made by beating a gourd. The most typical tunes performed with "Tondolari Dance" are the folk songs "Tondolari" and "Hulari".
These folk songs enlivened by the phrases tondolari and hulari are characteristic of bright, cheerful and plain tunes. That's why anybody can sing easily and they are so rhythmical that they naturally lead the singers to a joyful dance.
"Tondolari Dance" is danced to the accompaniment of musical instruments like a Korean bamboo flute and drums and to the rhythm made by beating a gourd. Among them, it is the rhythm of six-eight time, kung-ta-kung-ta-ku kung-ta-kung-ta-ku, made by beating a gourd, that make the best of the rhythmical characteristics of the dance. This rhythm made by beating a gourd turned over a wooden or brass basin with a hilt or the palms not only fill our hearts with love for our home, but also help promote the stress and the intonation of the dance as it is unique and clear.
Originally, "Tondolari Dance" has been danced to the rhythm made by beating a gourd as means of accompaniment since it was performed in the giant garlic site play. And as it developed into a popular one involving men, other musical instruments like a Korean bamboo flute and drums were added.
Like this, "Tondolari Dance" is a folk dance of a great historical value with its development process, content, procedure, rhythm, moves, music and accompaniment being so clear and characteristic.
