By Lee Hyo-won
Figure skater Kim Yu-na’s poignant interpretation of Giselle at the Moscow world championships is further hyping the local ballet trend.
Ballet, long regarded an acquired taste here, gained wider mainstream exposure recently as the Academy Award-winning dance film “Black Swan” enjoyed box office success and popular comedians parodied ballerinos on television.
The Korea National Ballet Company made headlines in February as its rendition of “Giselle” became a smash success, selling out for the first time in the troupe’s 50-year history.
Kim, who has inspired top-selling classical music albums through skating to scores by Saint-Saens, is boosting ticket sales for ballet performances here, say local dance companies.
After the box office opened on April 29 for the Universal Ballet Company’s “Giselle,” which will be showcased in June as part of a ballet festival, 25 percent of the tickets were sold in just three days, according to organizers.
The rate is considerably high compared to other ballet programs.
“We received many inquiries even before the box office opened for ‘Giselle,’ and the effect is indeed as big as we anticipated,” said a staff member of the Universal Ballet Company. “We expect sales to go up, thanks to Kim Yu-na.”
This correlates with how Giselle became a top search item online late last year after Kim revealed that she would use the French ballet score for her short program. After she displayed an artistic performance last Friday, fans seemed to have turned to the actual dance piece.
After its sellout performance of “Giselle,” the Korea National Ballet Company continues to enjoy high ticket sales. This is in spite of recent troubles after one of its principal dancers quit for being involved in an assault case.
“Prince Hodong,” staged from April 22 to 24 at Seoul Arts Center, had a 94 percent turnout, while the first performance last Friday of the ongoing “Coppelia” had a full house. Thirty percent of tickets have already been sold for the company’s upcoming presentation of “Romeo and Juliet” in October.
“We were very concerned (whether we’d do well) after discontinuing the distribution of complimentary tickets in accordance with government policy last year.
“But thanks to Kim Yu-na and other positive trends I can really feel the heightened interest in ballet among the general public. I will try harder to provide satisfying performances for fans,” said Choi Tae-ji, director of the Korea National Ballet Company.
For more information about the Korea National Ballet Company’s “Coppelia” call (02) 587-6181.
For inquiries about the Universal Ballet Company’s “Giselle” call 070-7124-1733.