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Star dancer's leadership put to test
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Korea National Ballet Director Kang Sue-jin has a mission of bringing a new level of artistic maturity to the nation’s top ballet company. / Courtesy of Korea National Ballet
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
There is no doubt about Kang Sue-jin’s exceptional ability as a dancer, but does she have what it takes to lead?
The dance world is keenly watching her transformation into an artistic director from prima ballerina since the culture ministry named her chief of the nation’s top ballet company. The 46-year-old has been leading the Korea National Ballet (KNB) since February after almost 30 years at Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet, 17 years of which she has served as principal dancer.
Her post-Stuttgart career had been the subject of media speculation for several years, but few expected her at the helm of Korea’s biggest ballet company as she has not resided here since the mid-1980s.
Kang’s KNB appointment is nothing new in the international dance community. It is not hard to find star dancers who have chosen a management post after retirement. Julio Bocca, former American Ballet Theater (ABT) principal, was named director of the Ballet Nacional SODRE by Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica in 2010. Angel Corella, also a former ABT principal, is now in charge of Spain’s Barcelona Ballet.
Manuel Legris, 50, the famed ballet dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years, has been directing the Vienna State Ballet since 2010. Tamara Rojo, 39, former principal at London’s Royal Ballet, is now leading the English National Ballet. Both dancers have been gaining critical acclaim for invigorating their respective companies with new repertoire and visionary leadership.
Kang’s mission will be somewhat different from the likes of Rojo or Legris, who are managing highly established institutions that already enjoy global status.
The KNB, founded in 1962, is trying to build an international reputation, while spreading ballet to a larger audience domestically. It has demonstrated noticeable artistic growth in the last decade, but at the moment, the company lacks big names and a strong identity of its own.
“The KNB has achieved immense growth over the years. My focus will be to nurture a distinctive style,” Kang said in a latest news conference in Seoul. “Many in the global ballet community are keeping their eye on the KNB.”
The KNB is the largest ballet company in the country. However, it still does not have its own school, an indispensable feature in many national ballet companies for nurturing star dancers and choreographers.
Core values
Kang has stressed teamwork, co-operation and communication as the core values of her leadership philosophy. “In each company, the most important thing is teamwork. I want to be the person to encourage and support my dancers,” Kang said. “I have come with a huge to-do list to improve the company. But the most important thing for me is to build an environment where the dancers feel happy with what they do.”
Audiences will have a chance to see signs of change at the beginning of her three-year tenure when the company launches the new season this week with performances of the “La Bayadere” by Russian choreographer Yury Grigorovich. The company has been rehearsing the work for the last few weeks with Kang.
The Korean Symphony Orchestra, under guest conductor Judith Yan, will provide the orchestral accompaniment. “La Bayadere” will run from March 13-16 at Seoul Arts Center’s Opera Theater.
“La Bayadere,” or “The Temple Dancer,” is set in royal India, and follows the tragic love story of the temple dancer Nikia and the young warrior Solor. The lavish production involves more than one hundred dancers in elaborate costumes.
Kang has a love of rare works, which is why she added Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and Uwe Scholz’s “Seventh Symphony,” a production set to Beethoven’s immensely popular work of the same title to the KNB’s repertoire later this season.
Like Rojo and Corella, Kang will keep dancing while remaining committed to her role as artistic director. The longtime principal of one of Germany’s most iconic ballet companies is still active on stage and will continue to dance until 2016.
Kang plans to continue dancing. In December 2013, she premiered “Madama Butterfly,” a work that was choreographed for her. The Innsbruck Dance Company will bring the production to Korea in July, with Kang dancing the lead role in all three performances.
Kang entered the Stuttgart Ballet at 18, becoming the youngest member in the history of the company and the first Asian to join. She is one of eight female principals at the company.
She was also the first Asian laureate of the Prix de Lausanne. Among her many honors and achievements she was named “Kammertanzerin” or chamber dancer, the highest recognition the German government bestows on a dancer.
Former Paris Opera Ballet star Manuel Legris, left, has been serving as artistic director of Vienna State Ballet since 2010, and Tamara Rojo, a longtime Royal Ballet principal, is in charge of the English National Ballet. By accepting the Korea National Ballet appointment, Kang Sue-jin has joined such luminaries who have seamlessly transformed themselves into managers from principal dancers.