The Choi So Bin Ballet will highlight its 2017 production “Cinderella” at a show slated for Jan. 12 at the Yongin Poeun Art Hall in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Based on one of the world’s most beloved folktales, the hourlong “Cinderella” is accompanied by the classical music of Johann and Josef Strauss with delightful choreography to match. The ballet is well-suited to young families, the ballet company added. Leading the show is ballerina Choi So-bin, who is also the ballet company’s artistic di

The annual Korea Musical Awards on Thursday announced the nominees in major categories including best musical, best leading and supporting actors and actresses and best music.Operators of the KMA on Thursday held a press conference to reveal the nominees and details of the upcoming ceremony, set for 7 p.m. on Jan.14 at Blue Square in Yongsan, central Seoul. Only musicals that opened between Dec. 1, 2017, and Nov. 30 this year were eligible to be nominated, and the awards for best musical and bes

Three choreographers take three Stravinsky pieces, bring them to life in movement

The Mariinsky Ballet will perform “Don Quixote” at the Sejong Center in Seoul from Thursday to Sunday, with ballerino Kim Ki-min and ballerina Viktoria Tereshkina in the lead roles. The production is Alexnader Gorsky’s version of the ballet, created in the early-20th century. It is a reinvention of choreographer Marius Petipa’s work, which premiered in 1869 at the Bolshoi Theatre. The Mariinsky Ballet’s Kim Ki-min performs as the poor barber Basilio in Gorsky’s “Don Quixote” (Mariinsky Theatre)

Achim Freyer’s “Das Rheingold” will kick off a two-year journey on Wednesday. The German producer’s latest opera -- the first installment of the Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner -- will premiere Wednesday at the Seoul Arts Center, where it will run until Nov. 18. The other three operas will be performed in the next two years. Singers perform during a rehearsal of Achim Freyer’s “Das Rheingold” on Monday at the Seoul Arts Center. (World Art Opera)Wagner’s Ring Cycle, or “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” is

Idols often seem to live in a different universe, surrounded by glitz and glamor onstage and on TV screens. But when it comes to Suneung, Korea’s annual college entrance exam, stars are on the same plane as every other 18 year-old in the country. Although not all celebrities decide to take Suneung, there are quite a number who wish to continue their studies alongside their careers. Stars who have said they will take the test this year are: Weki Meki’s Choi Yoo-jung and Lua; DIA’s Somyi; Stray Ki

Director Lee Kyung-sung’s “Love Story” is a play that is faithful to the theater’s fundamental function: imagination.“Love Story” follows on the heels of Lee’s 2017 work “Walking Holiday,” inspired by a walking tour of the Demilitarized Zone, which highlighted the reality of the divided Korean Peninsula.“Love Story,” however, is different as it provides a look at the physically unreachable land beyond the border. Actor Woo Bum-jin, actress Sung Soo-yeon and actor Na Kyung-min perform in “Love St

Truth be told, it feels almost irrelevant to discuss how great “The Lion King” musical is: What hasn’t been said about the multiple Tony Award-winning show that has been seen by over 95 million worldwide, across more than 100 cities in 20 countries? But seeing it onstage in its original language, for the first time in Korea, was a reminder that “The Lion King” is not just about the story, the music, the message, colorful -- in every definition of the word -- characters and creative set. It is al

The Seoul Arts Center on Wednesday began a run of director Lee Su-in’s “A Black Box,” a 2017 play written by Lee Kang-baek.The story was inspired by a real picture of King Gojong that was presented to a US president’s daughter, who is known to have made belittling remarks about it. A scene from “A Black Box” (SAC)Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of US President Theodore Roosevelt, mentioned the picture in her autobiography, titled “Crowded Hours.” In the book, she wrote that King Gojong and t

“The Lion King,” one of most beloved Disney animations of all time, is also one of the most successful and well-made musicals of all time. However, the reason the show has been enjoyed by over 95 million theatergoers across 25 productions across the past two decades extends beyond its brilliant music, clever use of props, masks and the energy that bursts from the onstage re-enactment of an African savanna.“The Lion King” (Clip Service)“With the ‘Lion King,’ one of the best things about the show

Strong theatricality and musicality sum up the Korean National Ballet’s “Mata Hari.” The ballet company unveiled “Mata Hari” to the public and press Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the opening performance at the Seoul Arts Center the same evening. “Mata Hari” runs until Sunday.  The Korean National Ballet’s principal dancer, Kim Ji-young (right), performs with Lee Jae-woo during a “Mata Hari” press call Tuesday afternoon at the Seoul Arts Center. (Yonhap) The Korean National Ballet’s principal dance

Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova to perform in Universal Ballet’s ‘La Bayadere’

Nederlands Dans Theater is holding three concerts at Seoul Arts Center between Friday and Sunday, marking its first visit to Seoul since 2002.　Leading the cutting-edge contemporary dance company are artistic director Paul Lightfoot and artistic adviser Sol Leon. The two have been working for the company for some 30 years, in the past as dancers and choreographers, and now as the heads in charge.“It has been many years since the company has not been returning to Seoul. For us, it’s very significa

German producer Achim Freyer’s latest production of “Das Rheingold,” part of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle,” was unveiled to the media in Seoul, offering yet another interpretation of the epic music drama. ”The “Ring Cycle” is a “Gesamtkunstwerk,” in which music, drama, language, light, stage design, costumes and drawings all come into play, Freyer said Wednesday at a press conference held after a showcase performance at the Namsan Creative Center.  German opera director Achim Freyer (right) and Esther L

The Korea National Contemporary Dance Company will introduce the new contemporary dance works of three young local artists from Sept. 6-9 at Seoul Arts Center’s Jayu Theater.The upcoming performances are part of the KNCDC’s “Step-Up” project, dedicated to finding, supporting and developing new works of local artists. Sixty-eight works were submitted for consideration, from which three works were selected: “Until Reaching a Blank” by Bae Hyo-sub, “Aboutdance Vol. 2: Told You So” by Lee Eun-kyung