Kim Li-hoe, front, from the Korea National Ballet will perform “Don Quixote” and “Spartacus” with fellow dancer Jung Young-jae at the Seoul International Ballet Festival 2012. The event is to be held at the Arko Arts Theater in Daehangno in Seoul from Aug. 23 to Sept. 1. / Courtesy of Seoul International Ballet Festival

Rachel Lee

Ballet lovers are invited to enjoy the best performances in a biennial dance festival in Korea.

Beginning Aug. 23,the 2012 Seoul International Ballet Festival gets underway for a 10-day event of extensive repertoires featuring rising young Korean stars including Park Sae-eun from the Paris Opera Ballet and Kim Li-hoe from the Korea National Ballet.

The ballet showpiece will take place at the Arko Arts Theater in Daehangno in Seoul.

Internationally-acclaimed ballet companies including the Austria-based Innsbruck Tanz Company and Het National Ballet from The Netherlands will participate.

The Universal Ballet, led by Julia H. Moon, will stage Jiri Kylian’s modern ballet “Petite Mort” at the opening gala on Aug. 23. Tanz Company will also present “Cheek to Cheek” at the opening.

Park was the first Korean ballerina to become an official member of the corps de ballet at the world-class company in June. The 22-year-old is to perform a number of repertories including “Romeo and Juliet” and “Adagietto” with male dancer Pierre Arthur Raveau.

Kim, 24, known for her good physique and artistic presentation, will perform “Don Quixote” and “Spartacus”with her fellow dancer Jung Young-jae. Two Korean dancers at the Dutch National Ballet — Choi Young-kyu, Kwun Se-hyun — will also join the festival and show off their powerful interpretation of movements in “Don Quixote” and “Tchaikovsky pas de deux.”

“Ballet 2050 Project” will present first-time works by dancers in their 20s and 50s including “Circulation for Human Movements” by Jung Yeun-soo, founder and director at Post Ego Dance Company and “Transparent Moment” by Hue Young-soon, staff teacher at the Dusseldorf Ballet Company.

In addition, three ballet leaders — Choi Tae-ji from the Korea National Ballet, Moon from the Universal Ballet and Kim In-hee from the Seoul Ballet Theater — will deliver lectures at Artist House in central Seoul on Aug. 27-29.

The event will be hosted by the Korea Ballet Association. For more information, call (02) 538-0505 or visit the web site at www.koreaballet.or.kr.