한국예술종합학교–사우디 왕립전통예술학교, 전통 기반 창작 교육 협력 확대

Korea National University of Arts Faculty Deployed to Royal Institute's Choreography Diploma Programme

The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts is a royal educational institution established with the aim of providing systematic education in traditional arts and fostering their contemporary development, located in the Al Futah district of Riyadh. The institution also operates under the brand name 'Wrth' — meaning 'heritage' and 'inheritance' in Arabic.

▲ Royal Institute of Traditional Arts choreography programme — Source: Royal Institute of Traditional Arts website

The current Intermediate Diploma in Choreography runs over two years (four semesters), with faculty from the Korean Dance Department at the Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts) participating directly. The programme is built upon traditional Saudi performance forms and encompasses movement composition, choreography, and production planning, combining theory with practical training. Students participate in actual stage projects, gaining experience in creation and collaborative processes. The programme is offered free of charge to Saudi nationals and selects students through practical auditions and interviews. It currently operates as a men's programme.

Exchange Expands into Formal Institutional Cooperation

The exchange between the two institutions began in earnest in 2023, when Saudi dancers visited the Korea National University of Arts. At that time, four Saudi dancers spent approximately two weeks at K-Arts studying Korean traditional dance and participating in collaborative creative work. The resulting work was presented at Encounter (만남 / التقاء), a Korea–Saudi traditional arts performance held in Riyadh from 26 to 28 November of that year. Underlying this achievement is the fact that Kim Sam-jin, Dean of the Korean Dance Department at K-Arts, had been cultivating exchange with the Saudi side in the field of traditional dance for some time prior.

▲ Korea–Saudi traditional arts collaborative performance Encounter (만남 / التقاء), Riyadh, November 2023 — Source: correspondent's photograph

Cooperation continued thereafter through remote classes, and from November 2025 Korean dance faculty from K-Arts have been residing in Saudi Arabia and providing instruction in person. As a result, the exchange between the two institutions has expanded into the stage of formal institutional educational cooperation. On 16 February, the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts held an internal presentation to mark the conclusion of approximately three months of training. Though not open to the public, the event showcased creative works combining Saudi traditional dance with Korean traditional dance, serving as an occasion to assess the outcomes of the educational programme.

Korea's Model of Preserving and Transmitting Traditional Dance Applied in Saudi Educational Settings

The Korea–Saudi traditional dance education partnership carries significance as an exchange not merely of technique but of the very approach to transmitting tradition. It is noteworthy that the Saudi side chose to engage with the Korean dance education model even amid countries with long-established dance education traditions — Europe, the United States, Russia and others. Korean dance is regarded as a case in which tradition has been preserved while simultaneously evolving into a contemporary art form through modern reinterpretation. This model of transmission resonates with Saudi Arabia's cultural policy direction of pursuing modernisation while maintaining the identity of its traditional arts. The question of what outcomes this partnership — now taking shape as formal institutional cooperation — will produce in the future merits close attention.