International Performing Arts Resources
An introduction to researching music, theater, and dance from across the globe
Korean Studies Library Contact
Yunah Sung
Contact:
414 Hatcher Graduate Library North
Asia Library
University of Michigan
920 N. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
Asia Library
University of Michigan
920 N. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
734-764-0406
Website
Japanese Studies Library Contact
Keiko Yokota-Carter
Contact:
kyokotac@umich.edu
412 N. Hatcher 913 S. University Ann Arbor MI48109-1190 USA
412 N. Hatcher 913 S. University Ann Arbor MI48109-1190 USA
734-764-7774
Chinese Studies Library Contact
Liangyu Fu
Contact:
415 Hatcher Graduate Library North
Asia Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
Asia Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190
(734) 936-2354
On This Page
Korea
- Databases/Indexes
- Web Resources
- Journals
- Selected Texts & Audiovisual Material
- Departments & Organizations
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Bibliography of Performing Arts of KoreaOngoing bibliography indexing over 3,000 Korean performing arts publications.
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Bibliography of Asian StudiesThousands of entries on the humanities and social sciences related to East, Southeast, and South Asia, published from 1971 to the present.
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DBpiaKorean, multi-disciplinary database with full-text access.
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Traditional Korean MusicPortal about traditional music and instruments, with videos, lyrics, images, and notable performers.
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Korea | Asian Traditional Theatre and DanceProvides a history and description of Korean performing arts like shamanism, mask theater, pansori, changguk, and more, with a section on North Korea.
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AsianInfoDescribes different Korean music genres, dances, dramas, film, and their subcategories.
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Digital Archive of Performing ArtsKorean archive listing drama, dance, orchestral, opera, chorus, pansori, and changgeuk performances.
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Asian Theatre JournalFocuses on Asian "traditional and modern theatrical forms" through articles, plays, translations, reviews, and reports. (Print available. Call number: 822.95 A83)
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Asian MusicEnglish journal with reviews and articles about Asian music, instruments, and plays, analyzing their history and societal roles. (Print available. Call number: ML 1 .A83)
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Han'guk kŭk yesul yŏn'gu | Journal of Korean Drama and TheatreQuarterly Korean journal about Korean drama, theater, and television.
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Taejung ŭmak | The Korean Association for the Study of Popular MusicKorean language journal focusing on different aspects of popular Korean music throughout history and into the present.
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The Journal of Dance Society for Documentation & History | 무용역사기록학Journal started in 2014 that researches and documents dance and its history in Korea.
Texts
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Illusive Utopia: Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea by Suk-Young Kim
Call Number: PN 2939.1 .K56 2010 (Hatcher Library)"Explores how sixty years of state-sponsored propaganda performances— including public spectacles, theater, film, and other visual media such as posters" interact with the political sphere in North Korea and how the performing arts shape "national identity and state legitimacy." -
Dance of Korea by Kang Da-kyum
Call Number: GV 1703 .K6 D36 2014 (Music Library)Describes the history and different elements of multiple Korean dances such as court dance, folk dance, Confucian ritual dance, and Buddhist dance. Includes illustrations and a DVD. -
K-Pop Now! by Mark James Russell
Call Number: Ebook OnlyTraces K-pop's rise to popularity, describes the different facets of the music industry, and includes several interviews with K-idols.
Audiovisual Material
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Korean Traditional Music & DanceVideo presenting traditional Korean music and dance, divided into court and folk styles.
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Yŏgisŏ Nae Ka Sanda: Adong Mudae Chakp'umjip | 여기서 내 가 산다: 아동 무대 작품집343 page musical score of patriotic children's songs from North Korea.
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Korean SongsAudio recording of a Korean soprano singer and the Paris orchestral ensemble performing various pieces from South Korea, ranging from love to nationalistic songs.
Japan
- Databases/Indexes
- Web Resources
- Journals
- Selected Texts & Audiovisual Material
- Departments & Organizations
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CiNii ArticlesOffers 3.7 million full text articles and 15 million indexed articles from journals, research bulletins, and articles found in the National Diet Library's Japanese Periodicals Index Database.
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Bibliography of Performing Arts of JapanOngoing bibliography indexing over 11,000 Japanese performing arts publications.
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Japanese Drama DatabaseSummaries and playwright information of around 100 Japanese dramas from the end of World War II to the present.
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Waseda University Cultural Resource DatabaseJapanese database covering all aspects of culture, with a focus on theatrical performances.
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The NohMore than 200 synopses of Noh plays and descriptions of Noh masks, with terminology.
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Bibliography of Asian StudiesThousands of entries on the humanities and social sciences related to East, Southeast, and South Asia, published from 1971 to the present.
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Japan | Asian Traditional Theatre and DanceProvides a history, with images, of different Japanese theatrical styles like kabuki, noh, bunraku, and others.
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AsianInfoContains brief introductions to Japanese classical theater, modern drama, dance, and more.
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Japanese Culture and Art OnlineProvides basic descriptions of Japanese theater, dance, and traditional music.
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Yokohama Noh TheaterIntroduction to the varieties of Japanese theater, such as bunraku and kabuki.
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Noh Play Digital ArchiveJapanese digital archive of Noh plays from Hosei University.
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Asian MusicEnglish journal with reviews and articles about Asian music, instruments, and plays, analyzing their history and societal roles. (Print available. Call number: ML 1 .A83)
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Asian Theatre JournalFocuses on Asian "traditional and modern theatrical forms" through articles, plays, translations, reviews, and reports. (Print available. Call number: 822.95 A83)
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Monumenta NipponicaOne of the oldest English journals in Asian studies started in 1938, covering the Japanese humanities. (Print available. Call number: DS 821 .A1 M8)
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Journal of Japanese StudiesMulti-disciplinary English journal about Japanese society. (Print available. Call number: DS 801 .J86)
Texts
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Butoh: Metamorphic Dance and Global Alchemy by Sondra Horton Fraleigh
Call Number: GV 1783.2.B87 F72 2010 (Music Library)Chronicles the growth of Butoh from its mid-century founding to its assimilatilation into modern dance, documenting the range and variety of butoh artists around the world with first-hand knowledge of butoh performances from 1973 to 2008. -
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama by J. Thomas Rimer (Editor); Mitsuya Mori (Editor); M. Cody Poulton (Editor)
Call Number: Ebook OnlyAnthology introducing Meiji-period dramas and follows with a history of modern Japanese and traditional theater in six chronological sections. -
Made in Japan by Toru Mitsui (Editor)
Call Number: ML3501 .M33 2014 (Hatcher Library)"Presents a general description of the history and background of popular music, followed by essays organized into thematic sections: Putting Japanese Popular Music in Perspective; Rockin' Japan; and Japanese Popular Music and Visual Arts." -
Edo Kabuki in Transition: From the Worlds of the Samurai to the Vengeful Female Ghost by Satoko Shimazaki
Call Number: Ebook OnlyTraces three centuries of kabuki theater from its origins, decline, and rebirth in the modern world, while examining the role of Edo kabuki in forming modern, urban identity.
Audiovisual Material
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The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: the Heart of Kabuki, Noh and BunrakuFilm tracing how different theatrical genres developed, their performing styles, the necessary stage settings, and how each style interacts with nature, with excerpts from plays.
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Gagaku: Music for EternityFilm with English and Japanese narrators and subtitles, about gagaku and its accompanying dance.
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Gendai No Sangen Besuto 25 | 25 of the Best of Contemporary Shamisen MusicFive LPs of twenty-five contemporary shamisen songs, with program notes in Japanese.
China
- Databases/Indexes
- Web Resources
- Journals
- Selected Texts & Audiovisual Material
- Departments & Organizations
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Bibliography of Asian StudiesThousands of entries on the humanities and social sciences related to East, Southeast, and South Asia, published from 1971 to the present.
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Pioneers of Chinese DanceU-M's digital collection of over 1,500 images, covering 20th century Chinese dance with biographical narratives.
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Bibliography of Performing Arts of ChinaOngoing bibliography indexing nearly 14,000 Chinese performing arts publications.
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Zhongguo Su Wen Ku 中國俗文庫Full-text database of pre-modern Chinese literature, including dramas.
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AsianInfoIntroduces Chinese opera, drama, cinema, and acrobatics with relevant sources.
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The Internet Chinese Music ArchiveAudio recordings of Chinese music from all genres, like folk, modern, and children's music.
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China | Asian Traditional Theatre and DanceProvides a history of the performing arts through multiple dynasties, before and after the Cultural Revolution, with in-depth descriptions of regional operas styles and shadow puppetry.
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Chinese Performing ArtsEncyclopedia Britannica's entry on the history of Chinese performing arts, genres, and performers.
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DanceWeb | ChinaContains videos of contemporary dance performances in China from various dance companies, groups, and artists.
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Asian MusicEnglish journal with reviews and articles about Asian music, instruments, and plays, analyzing their history and societal roles. (Print available. Call number: ML 1 .A83)
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Asian Theatre JournalFocuses on Asian "traditional and modern theatrical forms" through articles, plays, translations, reviews, and reports. (Print available. Call number: 822.95 A83)
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Wu dao 舞蹈 | DanceChina's most prolific dance research journal reaching back to 1958. (Print available. Call number: GV 1580 .W87)
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Journal of Music in ChinaPublishes original Chinese articles translated to English and original English articles about ethnomusicology and Chinese music. (Print only. Call number: ML 336 .J681)
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CHINOPERL : journal of Chinese oral & performing literatureJournal about the forms of Chinese spoken performance, specifically opera and spoken narratives. (Print available. Call number: PL 2253 .C75)
Texts
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Chinese dance in the vast land and beyond by Commas Chang; Lynn E. Frederiksen; Emily Wilcox (Contribution by); Shih-Ming Li Chang; Shih-Ming Li Chang
Call Number: GV 1691 .C434 2016 (Music Library)Considers the "relationship between Chinese dance in its many forms and the cultural contexts of dance within the region and abroad." -
Chinese Theater: From Its Origins to the Present Day by Colin Mackerras (Editor)
Call Number: PN 2871 .C5341 1983 (Shapiro Library)Traces the history of Chinese plays and dramas through several dynasties with a final chapter on modern theater. -
Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow by Marc L. Moskowitz
Call Number: Ebook OnlyExplores Mandopop's cultural implications in Taiwan and the PRC, looking at the music's roots, hybridity, and affect on gender roles. -
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama by Xiaomei Chen (Editor)
Call Number: PL 2658 .E5 C65 2010 (Hatcher Library)Contains translations of plays from China and Taiwan with an "introduction to the historical, cultural, and aesthetic evolution of twentieth-century Chinese spoken drama."
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U-M's Chinese Dance CollectionLargest collection of Chinese dance materials in North America composed of rare materials, such as posters, serials, and programs; the Audrey Moo Hing Jung collection; and secondary source materials, like dance textbooks.
Audiovisual Material
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Chinese ShadowsFilm following shadow puppet performers in rural northwest China, as they travel village to village giving performances.
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Performing Arts of China: The OperaDVD of Chinese opera and its components, like miming, acrobatics, music, and instruments.
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Performing Arts of China: Instruments and MusicFilm exploring the link between music and art in Chinese life by touring musical instrument factories. Includes samples of music and shows the construction of instruments.
East Asian Departments & Organizations
Last Updated: Dec 2, 2025 10:18 AM
Subjects: Arts, International Studies
Tags: dance, drama, music, performing arts, theater, theatre, world music