By Do Je-hae
A young Korean ballerina has been accepted by one of the world’s finest ballet companies based in Paris.
Park Se-eun, the 2007 winner of the prestigious Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland, passed an audition at the Paris Opera Ballet held last week.
The 22-year-old was one of three among 111 to be chosen from the competitive selection process, according to the Korea National University of Arts, Saturday.
“I can’t believe it. It is a great honor to have an opportunity to work with the best in the world,” Park said during a TV interview after the announcement.
No Korean ballerina has ever been a member of the Paris Opera Ballet, which is considered one of the world’s top three ballet companies along with New York’s American Ballet Theater (ABT) and London’s Royal Ballet.
Upon joining the company, she will be ranked as a “corps de ballet” and subsequently audition for a further promotion next August.
The ballerina ranks among the rising stars in Korean ballet with many important international prizes behind her. Last year, she won the Varna International Ballet Competition in Bulgaria.
As a winner of the Lausanne competition, she formerly danced at ABT II and has worked closely with the Korea National Ballet.
Born in 1989, Park began dancing at the age of 10 and entered a program for young dancers at the Korea National University of Arts. Her dancing is marked by effortless technique and natural expression.
In recent years, Korean ballet dancers have consistently raised their profiles within the world’s foremost ballet troupes.
ABT’s Seo Hee was recently promoted to soloist, while the elegant 26-year-old Kang Hyo-jung became the youngest Asian principal dancer of the Stuttgart Ballet.
The Paris Opera Ballet has an extensive repertoire, ranging from the major romantic and classical ballets to new works by contemporary choreographers.
The company stages about 180 performances per season.