Tacit knowing in motion: Learning process in Korean traditional performing arts – new socio-technological contexts

Abstract

This article aims to explore the present state of tacit knowing of expertized motion that has been passed along from generation to generation in the learning process of Korean traditional performing arts. The current status of, and changes in, the learning process were observed in a questionnaire survey, and the effects of the use of motion-capture technology were examined in an experimental class. In the learning process of Korean traditional performing arts, active feedback loops exist and have been strengthened in which the learners monitor external information and reflect it with language, sensory images and somatic feelings through instructed and imitative learning. Although the traditional apprenticeship style of situated learning has tended to diminish, the learners are expanding their social networks beyond the boundaries of discipline and specialty. In the trial applying motion-capture technology, when imitative learning was partially substituted by instructive learning with visual expression and language, the students became sensitive to differences between the ideal motion and their actual performance. Motion-capture technology also provides new means of imitative learning with computer models. Emerging technologies will provide new opportunities to support tacit knowing in motion.