COVID-19 brings world-class Korean dancers together

World-class Korean dancers and Jo Ju-hyun, third from right, artistic director of "The Korea World Dance Stars Festival 2020," pose at Korea House in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

No one ever expected that this year's ballet festival would be able to bring all the top 10 talented Korean dancers from world-class ballet companies around the world together on one stage.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic made the star-studded performance possible. The dancers returned home to join "The Korea World Dance Stars Festival 2020" to show off their skills in front of local audiences.

The festival, which began in 2001 as a biennial event and has been held yearly since 2007, will present unprecedented performances by Korean dancers from June 27 to 28 at the Seoul Arts Center, despite the high number of performances being cancelled or pushed online.

Ballet dancers Park Sun-mi and Han Sung-woo, with the American Ballet Theater; Kang Ho-hyun, with the Paris Opera Ballet; Lee You-rim, with the Hungarian National Ballet; Jung Ga-yeon, with the Joffrey Ballet; Lee Sang-min, Lee Sun-woo and Lee Soo-bin, with the Boston Ballet, along with contemporary dancers Lee Sun-a, with Cie Le Guetteur in France and Lee Mi-ri, with Metabody, will present 11 pieces. Five are original pieces.

The five include "Pearl," "Un cover," "Void of Text" and "Life Must Go On." The dancers will also present "Pirate," the "Talisman pas de deux," the "Tchaikovsky pas de deux" and the "Don Quixote pas de deux."

What differentiates this year's show from previous ones is that dancers will perform in rare combinations with one another.

In the past, Korean dancers have come together with dancers from their overseas ballet companies to perform. However, it became almost impossible to bring foreign groups or performers here because of coronavirus infection concerns. So the organizer decided to fill the gap with more Korean dancers, giving the festival a fresh opportunity.

"Audiences can witness the development and the growth of Korean ballet," festival artistic director Jo Ju-hyun said during a press conference Thursday. "The dancers were educated in Korea, they went to various ballet companies overseas and absorbed their styles. Fans can enjoy the new styles of the performances all at once."

She said she was able to invite three dancers to the festival as of January. But she called in more as they temporarily returned to Korea after their dance companies stopped performances or suspended operations following the spread of the coronavirus.

Jo said she tried to express the meaning of art during this difficult time through the performances.

"Because of the coronavirus, we had to stop and had time to reflect on ourselves as we didn't have space to practice due to the virus," she said. "We are more than thankful to be able to stand before the audience. I would like to question the way we exist (as artists) and answer that for our fans."

The festival is held on the sidelines of the 10th Ballet Festival Korea. In addition to the performances, workshops with the dancers will be held in Seoul, June 30 and on Jeju, July 2.

Tickets sold out within three days but for more information about the festival, visit www.ipap.co.kr or call (02) 3674-2210.

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