Liu’s attention to detail was evident in the costumes and set design, which balanced traditional elements with a contemporary edge. He said that he put a lot of effort into making a set design that could capture the ambiance and the mood of the music, leaving more room for the audiences' imagination. Instead of an elaborate stage set, the backdrop for each episode changed via projected scenes o...

What was more important was to convey emotions through the dance and music that could resonate with the audience, emphasized Liu. “When I choreograph, I think of two things. First, the artistic beauty itself -- like when you drink coffee, it’s so delicious you don’t worry about how much cream, milk or sugar are in it. That overall beauty is something I pursue in my choreography.” So the directo...

Diop, born in Paris to a Senegalese father and a French mother, joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2018. Since then, he has danced in several etoile roles with lead performances in “Don Quixote,” “La Bayadere” and “Romeo and Juliet.” He was promoted to “sujet,” or a soloist, in November 2022. He achieved the top rank without having gone through the “premiere dancer” stage for several years as is u...

Korean ballerina Kang Ho-hyun, who joined the French ballet company in 2018, will take on the role of Willy, the ghost of Giselle, and participate in group dances. Kang was promoted to “sujet,” equivalent to the modern soloist, in 2022. “It is a great honor to participate as a Korean in the first Korean tour in 30 years,” Kang said, adding she was pleased by the opportunity. “The choreography f...

Director and co-scriptwriter Nam In-woo said she contemplated the question: Why did readers, especially young readers, respond so enthusiastically to this webtoon about female gukgeuk? “As the director, what I felt is, one, the coming-of-age narrative of the young heroines, and two, the solidarity among women,” said Nam during a press conference at Haeoreum Grand Theater in Seoul on Thursday. “...

Another reason he joined the play was the troupe, he said, and in particular veteran actor Yoo In-chon. Park and Yoo met in 2012 when Park won the rookie prize for the acting award named after Yoo. Park said that he was mesmerized by Yoo’s performance and delivery of lines at reading rehearsals. “(His words) are like an orchestra -- the diction, long-short sounds and everything. … He remembered...

The NTCK had showcased the drama as adapted by playwright Yun Mi-hyun with director Shim Jae-chan in 2021. Originally created to mark the theater troupe's 70th anniversary in 2020, the staging was eventually delayed due to the pandemic. The highlight of the performance is the 5 tons of rain that overwhelmingly sweeps across the stage at the performance's conclusion. Director Shim, who is joinin...

Four groups of Korean artists will perform at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, one of the world's largest annual arts festivals, which starts on Thursday and runs until March 19. Held in Adelaide, Australia, the festival of performing arts draws more than 6,000 artists from around the globe. Around 2.7 million visitors enjoyed the festival in 2019. Two plays, one gugak musical and one stan...

The National Jeongdong Theater, a public performance hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, has unveiled its season line-up for this year, along with major initiatives for the 2023 season. “We will develop and promote performing arts of both the contemporary and traditional style, and for that we're preparing a wide variety of programs for not only enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s, but also for children and fa...

“Xcalibur,” a musical by the Korean musical company EMK, will be made into a Japanese version by the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater troupe. The Japanese production will take to the stage from July 23 to Aug. 5 at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia Hall. The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female theater troupe founded in 1913 to attract tourists to Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Daiichi Inaba wil...

The National Theater of Korea will screen three plays in February and March as part of “NTOK Live+,” a program introducing prominent overseas theatrical performances. Three classic plays -- Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” Moliere’s “Le Tartuffe ou l'Hypocrite” and Arthur Schnitzler’s “Professor Bernhardi” -- have been reinterpreted by the National Theatre in London, La Comedie Francaise in Paris...

For this year's performance, the troupe will edit and incorporate the on-site sounds recorded at the premiere stage, further emphasizing the concept of multifaceted memories of a room where the past and the present coexist in one space. Kim, who has been a part of the Belgian dance theater company Peeping Tom since 2008, was featured in the second season of Mnet’s dance survival show “Dancing 9”...

Three popular female TV actors appear on stage

K-Musicals Shin, who is also the chairman of the Korean Association of Musical Producers (KAMP), believes that the COVID-19 pandemic presented something of an unexpected denouement for the industry. Behind spectacular growth in the past two decades, a vulnerable foundation was revealed, he said. The situation in Korea was better than Broadway or the West End in London, where theaters shut down e...

Lee Soon-jae's presence fills stage; So Yoo-jin, Jin Ji-hee performances shine