Korean talent joins San Francisco Ballet
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San Francisco Ballet corps de ballet member Park Won-a / Yonhap
By Jhoo Dong-chan
A young Korean ballerina has joined the world’s leading professional ballet company.
According to San Francisco Ballet, Wednesday, its trainee Park Won-a was promoted to the position of corps de ballet member after completing her two-year course.
Founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm, San Francisco Ballet was the first professional ballet company in the United States as one of the four big ballet companies. The others are American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and Boston Ballet that present more than 100 shows every year, covering both classical and contemporary dance.
Park is the first Korean to join the ballet company as an official member, and is expected to play her role beginning next month at the earliest.
She joined the San Francisco Ballet School, the dance company’s official school, with a scholarship in 2015 when she was a freshman at Sunhwa Arts School in Seoul.
She won a series of international dance contests, including the Sicily Boroka International Concours in 2012 and Seoul International Concours Junior division in 2014.
A number of young Korean ballet dancers have successfully made their debut on the global ballet scene.
Recently, Korea 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.
Winning the grand prize last year at the Youth America Grand Prix, the 19-year-old will be joining the company in August.
Thirty-two year-old Kang Hyo-jung is also the principal female dancer at Germany's Stuttgart Ballet, the second female Korean principal dancer following legendary Kang Sue-jin who held the position for 19 years in the company from 1997 to 2016.