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Matthew Bourne`s `Swan Lake`
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Dante's ‘La Divina Commedia’
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Internationaal Theater Amsterdam ‘Roman Tragedies’ directed by Ivo van Hove
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Ex Machina ‘887’ directed & performed by Robert Lepage
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Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch "Rouch Cut"
Under the motto “introducing in real-time the high-quality works that contemporary audiences should not miss,” the LG Arts Center has been earning the audience’s trust with its consistent programming direction for 22 years.
Under the name CoMPAS (Contemporary Music & Performing Arts Season), the LG Arts Center presented works by masters who have led the new current of the performing arts worldwide, notable emerging artists creating new trends, and Korean artists who have the potential to advance to the global stage.
A number of masters from around the world met Korean audiences for the first time through the LG Arts Center.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal, whose founder, Pina Bausch, is widely regarded as the greatest choreographer of the 20th century, became the most significant artist representing the LG Arts Center program, performing eight of its leading works, including Carnations, which marked the opening of the LG Arts Center, and Rough Cut, a piece inspired by Korea. Matthew Bourne, the British choreographer who replaced the fragile female swans in the classic ballet Swan Lake with muscular men in his sensational adaptation, has attracted 120,000 audience members in eight runs of his four works, Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands, The Sleeping Beauty, and Nutcracker!. Canadian director Robert Lepage, a genius in his own right, has bestowed upon us the wonders of the stage with The Far Side of the Moon, The Andersen Project, and 887, integrating his innovative staging and creative storytelling; and Ivo van Hove, leading the Dutch theatre company ITA, brought about a singular theatrical experience with his six-hour epic Roman Tragedies, a work that challenges all the taboos of spectatorship.
In addition, greatly celebrated artists of the the world, the symbols of ‘innovation’ and ‘breakaway’, such as Lev Dodin, Wim Vandekeybus, Hofesh Shechter, Sascha Waltz, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, all met Korean audiences for the first time through the LG Arts Center.
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Pat Metheny Group 'The Way Up'
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Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra
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`La Belle et la Bete` music by Philip Glass, film by Jean Cocteau
The LG Arts Center offered a music program of
classical and contemporary music, jazz, and world music, distinct from other performing arts venues.
Jazz legends Sony Rollins and Wayne Shorter had their very first shows in Korea at the LG Arts Center. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, fascinated by the acoustics of the venue, released a DVD recording of his live concert here; he showed us the true meaning of innovation and challenge with his performance Orchestrion, where the artist created the sounds of multiple instruments by himself using machines.
On top of that, the LG Arts Center also boasted a singular world music program. Musicians from various cultures around the world have presented dazzling performances at the LG Arts Center, including Buena Vista Social Club and Omara Portuondo from Cuba; the great Brazilian musicians Marisa Monte and Gilberto Gil; Youssou N’Dour, a world star from Senegal; Angelique Kidjo from Benin; Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a vocal ensemble from South Africa; Mariza and Misia, musicians who made fado global; the No Smoking Orchestra led by Emir Kusturica, a filmmaker from Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Goran Bregovi?, a Serbian musician making films and Gypsy music. In the field of classical music, the LG Arts Center presented high-class contemporary music, early music, and chamber music. It joined various artistic journeys of contemporary musicians, such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, the leading figures of minimal music and the project of the Kronos Quartet and Tan Dun, Bang On A Can.
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‘Peer Gynt’ directed by YANG Jung Ung
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'UKCHUKGA' by LEE Jaram
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‘The Chorus; Oedipus’ directed by Jae-Hyung SEO, composed by Uzong CHOE
Continuous collaborations with Korean artists have also produced outstanding results.
During the first years of the LG Arts Center, The Big Scene and Welcome to Dongmakgol attracted more than 1,000 audience members every show and were both created into films garnering much attention; Peer Gynt, created by director YANG Jung-woong, was awarded the Grand Prix, Best Director, and Best Set Design at the Korean Theater Awards and was recreated into a Japanese version (produced by Setagaya Theatre). The final Season Program to be presented at the LG Arts Center in Yeoksam area, Coriolanus, was also highly acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. Performances of LEE Ja-ram’s original pansori piece, Ukchuk-ga, completely sold out for three consecutive years and toured to 10 cities around the world.
The Chorus: Oedipus, directed by SEO Jae-hyeong, was received with great enthusiasm and sold out for two consecutive years, receiving rave reviews from festivals in Singapore and Auckland, New Zealand. Also, the LG Arts Center established a continued collaborative relationship with Korea’s most renowned theatre directors; The Pillars of Society and I was punched for sticking out slightly were produced by director KIM Kwang-bo; Lear-oejeon and L’Appartement by KOH Sun-woong; and Iago and Othello and Elektra by director HAN Tae-sook. As for dance, the LG Arts Center presented Galaxy Express 000 and Chunhyang by choreographer AHN Eun-mi; produced Shadows More Than Two, Ah Q and Horn by choreographer HONG Seung-yeop; The 7th Man, Forethought - Prometheus’ Fire and Fugue by choreographer JUNG Young-doo; and 12MHZ & Graying and Triple Bill by LDP. All of these works endeavored to offer new dance creations that are both enjoyable and artistically strong.
In music, it organized four concerts of different themes with cellist YANG Sung-won, including Beethoven’s Complete Sonatas for Cello and Piano and J.S. Bach’s Six Cello Suites. In addition, it presented Beethoven’s Complete 32 Piano Sonatas by KIM Sun-wook to much acclaim, in a relay concert spanning eight evenings over two years in 2012 and 2013.
“ The LG Arts Center is a world-class theatre attended
by sophisticated audiences who are more than ready to join its adventures. ”
- Philip Glass -
“ The LG Arts Center is like a professional home for me,
the best theatre in the world with exceptionally skilled staff members. ”
- Robert Lepage -