Korean dancers entrench global ballet scene
Ballerina Lee Sang-eun of Germany’s Semperoper Ballett performs in La Bayadere in this 2011 file photo. / Korea Times file
By Yun Suh-young
Kim Ki-min / Korea Times file photo
Park Sae-eun / Korea Times file photo
While the search for Korea's "Billy Elliot" is ongoing, as the eight-month-long audition to find the lead role of Billy in the famed musical is drawing to a close, there are many more real-life "Billys" that have already made it into the global ballet scene.
Several of Korea's ballet dancers hold top positions within their dance groups overseas.
Most recently, ballet dancer Jun Joon-hyuk who attends London's Royal Ballet School, was invited to join the Royal Ballet, one of the top ballet companies in the world. He will be joining the company in August this year. The 19 year-old won the grand prize last year at the Youth America Grand Prix, a prestigious international ballet competition and has since been noted as a rising Korean ballet dancer in the global scene.
In the same competition, another ballet dancer, preceding Jun, had won the prize. Kim Ki-min, who is currently a member of the Mariinsky Ballet Company in Russia, won the grand prize in 2012. The 25-year-old became the principal dancer in the Russian ballet company in 2011, a notable achievement in just four years after joining the company. Last year, he won the best male dancer award by the Benois de la Dance, an award considered the Academy Award of dance. Kim was the third Korean to receive the prize following the world-renowned ballet dancers Kang Sue-jin in 1999 and Kim Ju-won in 2006.
Before the Korean male ballet dancer made it onto the global stage, there had been many preceding ballerinas who paved the path.
Starting with the legendary Kang Sue-jin who was the first Korean to join Germany's Stuttgart Ballet in 1986 and the first female Korean principal dancer in a foreign dance company, there had been many ballerinas following her path and gaining recognition overseas, notably second-generation ballerinas such as Kang Hyo-jung and Seo Hee.
Thirty-two year-old Kang Hyo-jung is principal female dancer at Germany's Stuttgart Ballet, the second female Korean principal dancer, following Kang Sue-jin who held the position for 19 years from 1997 to 2016. The junior Kang joined the company in 2004 and became principal dancer in 2011.
Seo Hee, who is principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, is another winner of the 2003 Grand Prix at the Youth American Grand Prix in New York. In 2012, seven years after joining the American Ballet Theatre, she was appointed as principal dancer.
Most recently, a rookie ballerina Park Sae-eun who joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2012, was promoted to "premier danseur," or first dancer, two years after performing as "sujet," or second dancer.