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Art and Culture

It's the start of a new week and our Michelle Kim is here for our daily arts and culture segment. Today, she will tell us about a dance performance she saw this weekend and a Korean film that premiered recently at the Busan film festival.

Hello Michelle

[Reporter : ] Hello Conn-young

So what was the performance you saw this weekend[Reporter : ] I went to see Sweden's Cullberg Ballet Company, which is in town as the opening performance of the 15th Seoul International Dance Festival. The festival features a wide rang of choreographic styles, and Cullberg started it off with three innovative works from its repertoire. Take a look.

The Seoul International Dance Festival kicked off on Friday with a performance at the Gangdong Arts Center by the Cullberg Ballet Company from Sweden.
The company, which is known for its modern interpretations of classical ballet works, last appeared in Korea nearly 10 years ago in 2003.
At Friday's performance, the company presented three works from its repertoire.
The first piece, called "Xspectacle", showed the struggles that dancers face during rehearsal. By using bits of dialogue, solos, duets and configurations that required the dancers to work together as a team, the performance portrayed the dancers' efforts to keep pace with one another and how much practice is needed for a single performance.
Next on the program was a dance film called "40m under", which was directed and choreographed by Alexander Ekman. The piece features 16 dancers who are dressed up as scientists. They are led by one scientist who is pregnant, and she blows the whistle every time she feels the baby kicking. Each time the whistle is blown, the 16 dancers perform comedic yet highly technical movements.
The final work, "Negro con Flores", was a piece by Johan Inger, the company's artistic director from 2003 to 2008.
The work used darkness and light to emphasize the dancers' movements.
An old-fashioned black-and-white television that blinks on and off served as the backdrop to a dream-like scene as the dancers perform.
The lighting and a series of small items the dancers used while dancing worked together to convey a meaning of hope in darker times.
The Seoul International Dance Festival has become known as one of the city's premier dance events and this year will feature performances by 53 dance companies from 16 countries at venues around the city through October 20th.

Sounds like it was a lot of fun.

[Reporter : ] It definitely was. I think the artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet was trying to use different methods and media to set his company apart from the rest.
The film was my personal favorite, because it was very different way to see a dance performance yet it was very entertaining and the dance was impeccable so I enjoyed it very much.
If you check the Cullberg Ballet Company's website, you will be able to see their performance schedule and I would strongly encourage everyone to check it out. It will be spectacular.

Sounds great. And now, what else do you have for us[Reporter : ] Well, the Busan International Film Festival is well underway and a lot of celebrities are in the southern city right now to promote their films, including the cast of one of China's hottest new films, "Dangerous Liaisons".

Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung and South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun are at the Busan Film Festival to promote their upcoming film "Dangerous Liaisons", which has its last screening there on Friday.
Directed by Korea's Heo Jin-ho, best known for "Christmas in August" and "One Fine Spring Day", the film made waves at the festival even before it opened, selling out 12 seconds at all three screening venues after tickets went on sale.
At a press conference for the film, Heo said he felt the pressure of putting a film together with an international cast and crew/

[Interview : Heo Jin-ho, Director] "As a Korean director, I felt the burden of making a movie set in 1930's Shanghai. So I worried about it a lot in the beginning".

Based on an adaptation of the French novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", the film is set in Shanghai in the 30s.
Mo Jieyu, a glamorous entrepreneur played by Cecilia Cheung, makes a deal with her former lover, the handsome playboy Xie Yifan, played by Jang Dong-gun, to exact revenge on her most recent lover by seducing his fiancee,.. the innocent and naive De Fenyu, played by Zhang Ziyi.
The danger begins when Xie finds that he is falling in love with De Fenyu.
Actress Cecilia Cheung said she is pleased to be working with Jang again and talked about the on screen trust between them.

[Interview : Cecilia Cheung, Actress] "Whenever we act in a film together, Jang Dong-gun and I are able to exchange a look of love, true love".

"Dangerous Liaisons" will hit theaters in Korea on October 11th.

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Wow..from Zhang Ziyi to Jang Dong-gun, this film has the top actors and actresses from China and Korea. I'm sure a lot of people are excited to see it. Can you tell us a bit more about it[Reporter : ] Well, compared to the other adaptations of the novel, this film is any different. Other than the fact that the setting is not Paris, but Shanghai, the film plays it safe because it doesn't veer too far from old-fashioned Hollywood romance. So really, if you want to see "Dangerous Liasons" with a very good-looking cast and a different setting, this is perfect.

That's good to know. I definitely do want to check this out so I'll definitely head to the theater when it opens. And now to wrap things up, you have the events bulletin for us[Reporter : ] Yes, I do. SG Wannabe's Lee Suk-hoon performs his first solo concerts from October 19th to 21st. A variety of indie artists will be performing on the 2nd and 3rd of November to celebrate the Beatles' 50th anniversary. And finally, singer Kim Yun-woo presents a Christmas concert for families, friends and lovers.

[Reporter : ed: jenny] This bulletin features 3 events

SG Wannabe vocalist Lee Suk-hoon will perform in his first solo concerts at Ewha Womans University's Samsung Hall from October 19th to the 21st. The singer promises to present songs that will melt the audience's hearts during the chilly fall season.

To celebrate the Beatles' 50th anniversary, indie artists The Moonshiners, Jang Jae-in, Windy City and many more will present a program of the British band's hit songs at Mapo Art Center's Art Hall MAC on November 2nd and 3rd. Out in the lobby, there will be an exhibition of Beatles memorabilia, as well as a kiosk where fans can purchase Beatles albums and books.

For all of the lovebirds planning for the Christmas holidays, singer Kim Yun-woo will be offering 4 days of beautiful music and a bit of his trademark humor in a series of concerts at Olympic Park's Olympic Hall on December 22nd to 25th.

Thank you for the update

[Reporter : ] My pleasure.

OCT 08, 2012

Reporter : dainee@arirang.co.kr
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