Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Swan Lake, Turandot reborn in Seoul
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Seoul Metropolitan art companies revamp Western classics
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The classic ballet “Swan Lake” and Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot” spring to new life here in Seoul through two Seoul Metropolitan art companies.
The Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre (SMDT) will stage “Swan Lake” on April 15 and 16 at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, while Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theatre (SMMT) presents “Turando” from April 29 to May 25 at the M Theater of the same venue.
“The musical ‘Miss Saigon’ is based on Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’ and ‘Rent’ is a modern version of another Puccini opera ‘La Boheme,’” a PR representative of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts said. “This kind of one-source multi-use is becoming popular in the performing arts field. These works have familiar stories, but require creativity to overcome the barrier between genres.”
The SMDT’s rendition of “Swan Lake” is against the backdrop of Biryung and Buyeon, two imaginary ancient countries in Manchuria, north of Korea, and Mangang, a savage tribe.
Lim Lee-jo, the art director of the company, said, “The ballet version is focused on techniques such as dynamic pirouettes and jumps, but the Korean version has more static movement based on the beauty of moderation.”
A pure white swan vying with an enchanting black swan dancing to Tchaikovsky’s music is the same as in the ballet, but the signature group dance of the swans turns into a curve-formational dance with exaggerated hand movements.
Though the basic storyline is the same, some new scenes have been added to help understand the story and charm of traditional Korean dance.
Various traditional moves such as a sword dance, flower dance and fan dance are performed in this unique rendition of “Swan Lake.”
“‘Swan Lake’ will convey the sentiment of Korean people through the music of Tchaikovsky. Korean dance has the capacity to express Western music and we will continue to make other works both Koreans and foreigners can appreciate,” Lim said.
Tickets cost from 20,000 won to 70,000 won.
Meanwhile, the metropolitan musical theater plans to stage the famed opera “Turandot” in the form of a modern musical titled “Turando.”
The piece focuses more on the Princess Turando’s wounds and growth. In the original opera, her name is “Turandot,” but she was renamed “Turando” in the SMMT’s rendition, which means the painting of lonely orchid in Chinese characters.
A new character Tatacan will add more suspense to the musical, using the Princess to take over the country.
“The audience will find true love through Turando, completed by sacrifice, forgiveness and salvation,” Kim Hyo-kyung, conductor of the SMMT and director of “Turando,” said.
Two composers Kim Min-jung and Cho Won-young wrote songs for the musical and Hong Sung-kyoo, professor at Department of Postmodern Music at Kyung Hee University, arranged the songs with a modern touch.
“Though we take the style of a musical, we will maintain the solemn mood of the opera as well,” Kim added.
The director will talk about the production every Monday, when the show is off.
Tickets cost 30,000-50,000 won. Call (02) 399-1114 for more information.