Dancer traveled from Joseon Korea to Paris, then returned home
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
In the 1890s, Lee Jin, a court dancer from Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, traveled to Paris with a French diplomat, according to a memoir by Hippolyte Frandin, France’s second minister to Korea.
Scholars debate the accuracy of Frandin’s 1904 account, as few official records of Lee Jin remain. Pansori singer Shin Jin-won used Frandin’s memoir as inspiration for a performance titled “Li-Tsin: A Woman Without a Name,” which Shin debuted on September 12.
Shin, a certified performer of pansori, a Korean narrative tradition combining singing and drumming, collaborated with director Lee Wang-soo to develop the story. They expanded upon the limited historical information to create a portrayal of Lee Jin’s life and experiences. The performance explores the fate of a woman who left her country and then found herself without a place upon her return, highlighting the challenges faced by individuals caught between cultures and changing times.
