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Arts and Culture

And now it's time for our daily arts and culture segment with Michelle Kim.
Today, she has news on a world tour by a famous K-pop group and a couple of performances you might consider as you're planning your weekend.

Hello Michelle

[Reporter : ] Hello Conn-young

So which band is on tour[Reporter : ] The band is TVXQ, which went from five members to two in 2009 after a contract dispute broke them up. The duo of U-Know U-Know and Changmin took the stage in Seoul on Saturday to kick off the tour. Take a look.

K-pop duo TVXQ kicked off its first world tour last Saturday, performing for about 25,000 screaming fans at Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Stadium.
The concert is the duo's first in almost four years, and the first since the band broke up because of conflicts among the five original TVXQ members over their contract with their agency.
In 2009, three members of the group applied for an injunction against the agency, SM Entertainment, claiming the contract was abusive and unfair.
The band eventually broke up, with the three members forming the group JYJ, and the remaining two, U-Know U-Know and Changmin, keeping the TVXQ name.
Changmin spoke to the press about performing after such a long break.

[Interview :Changmin, Singer] "It's been about four years. I feel so bad that we've made them wait so long. However, this is our first concert as a duo, with the two of us performing for the entire time, so we'd love to show how we've grown as performers".

The next leg of the tour, which is named after their latest album, "Catch Me", will take the duo to Hong Kong on January 13th.
Then the duo heads to Japan for a series of five concerts in the country's five concert domes, with the first concert scheduled for April 27th.
[Reporter : ed: jenny] This will be the first time that a Korean group performs in all five concert domes in Japan, so that's certainly something to be excited about.

Yes, they must be very proud about that. Do you what the duo's plans are after the shows in Hong Kong and Japan[Reporter : ] Well, those are the only two concerts that are confirmed at the moment, but I hear they are trying to plan a tour around Latin America for fans in that area as well. With other K-pop artists having had successful concerts there, I don't think it will be hard for them to get a tour booked there.

Well, we will be looking forward to more news on that in the near future. And now, what else do you have for us today[Reporter : ] I have previews of three performances that our Korean viewers will be able to enjoy in the coming week, from a powerful performance by a popular American company to a play by a Korean company and a concert by Russian pianist Andrei Gavrilov. Take a look.

The Parsons Dance Company is in town for another visit, after their first successful performance here last year.
This time, they're presenting the rock-dance opera "Remember Me", which uses the Cain and Abel story from the Bible to tell the story of a love triangle between two men and a woman.
The company also presents "Caught", Parsons' signature piece featuring a solo dancer who does more than 100 leaps in six minutes under a strobe light that catches him mid-motion every time.
The company will be at the LG Arts Center until Saturday.
The play "Your Loneliness is Always Small" depicts the struggles of modern men and women as they compare themselves to another, ultimately revealing how lonely we all are.
The play follows an elderly person who is jealous of someone else's youth and a middle-aged woman who wants to be a man.
The set and a backdrop of rotating images emphasize the scale of the loneliness the characters feel.
The play runs through Saturday at the LIG Art Hall.
And finally
Coming up next week, Russian pianist Andrei Gavrilov will play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, two pieces that represent Russian romanticism, in a concert at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday. He will be accompanied by the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra.

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[Reporter : ed; jenny] Of the three performances, I'd recommend the Parsons Dance Company above all. They were here last year and performed five sold-out shows. This year, they're performing two audience favorites, "Caught" and "Remember Me". The performance continues until Saturday and I assure you this is going to be a great show to see with either family or friends.

I didn't get a chance to see the performance last year, so I will definitely make reservations for the weekend.

[Reporter : ] It's going to be great. The company is also touring with two singers from the Grammy-nominated East Village Opera Company -- Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo -- who have been part of the production from the beginning.

Sounds great. What about the play, what do you think that's going to be like[Reporter : ] Well, we are constantly compared to friends and co-workers, especially in Korean society. We're urged to compete with one another, and how we handle the competition is one of the main themes in the play. The message seems to be that in the end, you're not alone and everyone goes through the same struggles as you do.

Sounds like it's going to be something everyone can relate to. Thank you so much for the updates today, and I'll see you back here again tomorrow.

[Reporter : ] You're welcome, and I'll be back tomorrow with more.

NOV 22, 2012

Reporter : dainee@arirang.co.kr

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