주말동안 즐길 수 있는 온라인 공연...안데르센의 동화를 바탕으로 한 국립오페라단 신작

It's Friday and that means it's time for our weekly 'Life With Culture' segment with our culture correspondent Kim Bo-kyoung.
Bo-kyoung, with the nation still battling the second wave of Covid-19 and especially with the stringent level two point five social distancing having been extended in the Seoul Metro Area, it makes me wonder... how's the art industry coping with this?
Hi, Conn-young, it seems online has become the "new normal" for the art industry at the moment.
Most shows have quickly switched to online performances and the Korea National Opera is one of them.
Its latest opera 'Red Shoes', an original adaptation of a classic fairy tale, will be broadcast live online on Saturday afternoon for opera-lovers to enjoy at home.
I had a chance to go to its general rehearsal to give our viewers a sneak peek.
Let's take a look.
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Red Shoes" is reborn as a Korean original opera.
Karen - the daughter of the town's pastor lives in a neighborhood where everybody lives characterless lives, conforming to the group norms.
One day she meets Madam Shoes and receives a pair of bright red shoes... which inspires her to find her own self, her own color.
The opera shows how Karen struggles to find her own identity,... and the producer tells viewers to take a close look at the colors of the stage.
"The setting of this opera is a cold, gray city without any colorful characters. So amid the stage's cold but beautiful gray tone, attractive colors that show our inner self will sometimes appear, gracefully going along with the gray color."
This mysterious tale is full of creative and original tunes. The composer says the audience might find one of the tunes, based on Debussy's 'Moonlight', familiar.
She adds the show could give people a chance to think about their lives.
"Karen's dance is more than just a dance. It rather shows her craving for freedom, to find her color and dream. For her father, the moves represent his attempt to throw off his responsibility and burden. Their attempts might also inspire the audience to free themselves."
The show will be broadcast live online through Naver TV channel 'Korea National Opera' on Saturday 3 PM.
It definitely appears that both performers and audience are getting used to this online platform as a new stage. Of course, it probably doesn't compare with seeing the performance in person, but we'll have to settle for this for now. What other online performances can we look forward as we head into the weekend?
Sure, this Friday night, there will be a ballet show on the Naver TV channel 'LG Arts Center' titled 'The Painting on the Wall'.
Based on a Chinese fairy tale, it's by a French choreographer known for contemporary ballet.
The video will be on its channel for 48 hours...