Meet Kim Seo-yeon, who found her own path to Finnish National Ballet

The Finnish National Ballet has chosen a photo of Korean ballerina Kim Seo-yeon, 24, as the featured image on the website promoting its upcoming production of "The Lady of the Camellias," by choreographer John Neumeier, which will be staged next April.

Kim, who joined the company in 2020 and was promoted to first soloist in 2024, is set to take on leading roles in several productions in the new season, including "Swan Lake," which opens this month. Korean dancers performing with leading ballet companies around the world are no longer unusual, but Kim’s rise as the face of Finland’s national ballet company is notable.

Kim, who briefly returned to Korea during her summer vacation, spoke with Hankook Ilbo at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul.

“Finnish audiences tend to be reserved and don’t cheer loudly from their seats, but outside the theater they’ll recognize me, come over to say hello, and ask for photos or autographs,” she said. “I feel very loved.”

Unlike many Korean dancers who pursue international careers, Kim did not attend an arts middle or high school or the Korea National University of Arts. Her journey to becoming a first soloist at a European national ballet company in her early 20s was shaped by a series of challenges from a young age and a determination to forge her own path.

Kim’s introduction to ballet was an unusual one. She had been an early talker and a very chatty child, but at one point she suddenly stopped talking and began stuttering. Ballet was initially introduced as a form of therapy to help her overcome the problem. She also tried swimming, piano and taek won do, but none brought much change. Then she began attending a ballet academy near her home, and after about three months, her stuttering had noticeably improved.

Later, she learned about the John Cranko School, known for its relatively affordable tuition, after seeing Kang Sue-jin and Kang Hyo-jung, then dancers with the Stuttgart Ballet, on a television program. With only a month before the audition, she impulsively traveled to Germany on her own. She was admitted to the John Cranko School while in the fifth grade.

After spending her school years in Germany largely on her own, Kim went through a period of uncertainty when she grew to 168 centimeters tall and began to feel that her physical stature could limit her career. But she refused to stop. She moved to New York, where she trained intensively for a year and a half at the Ellison School, and then auditioned for ballet companies around the world, determined to find her place.

Kim received offers from ballet companies in the United States and Asia, but chose the Finnish National Ballet because she believed it offered both financial independence and opportunities for artistic growth. Finland’s broad repertoire and reasonable working environment, which respects the individual qualities of its dancers, provided the conditions in which she could flourish.

“Finland has a systematic working environment, including rehearsals, and, above all, there is a strong culture of helping one another grow in a field where fierce competition is often taken for granted,” she said. “My colleagues have been a great source of strength, and the company feels like a family.”

Since making her debut in a leading role as Clara in "The Nutcracker" in 2022, Kim has established herself as one of the company’s leading dancers, moving freely between classical ballet, dramatic works and contemporary pieces. Last season, she took leading roles in all four of the company’s major productions.

She is now just one promotion away from becoming a principal dancer, but Kim says the title itself is not particularly important to her. What matters is continuing to grow by encountering new works and challenges.

Recently, she has also begun exploring possibilities beyond performing. At a choreography workshop for company members, she created a short pas de deux, taking her first steps toward developing her own choreographic voice.

Having navigated the international ballet world largely on her own since childhood, Kim’s vision for the future extends beyond personal recognition or titles.

“I learned ballet the hard way, so I want to pass on the good traditions I learned from my teachers to younger dancers and make it possible for anyone to learn ballet more easily,” she said with a smile. “My goal is to establish a ballet school, so I’m working hard to save money.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.