Kim flawless in 'Marguerite and Armand'

Kim Joo-won, left, garnered critical acclaim for her performance in “Marguerite & Armand,” staged at the LG Arts Center, her first stage appearance after giving up her position as the Korea National Ballet’s prima ballerina last year. / Courtesy of Theatro

By Kwon Mee-yoo

When Kim Joo-won left the Korean National Ballet a year ago, it was to avoid being typecast in familiar roles and gain the freedom to test the limits of her stylistic and expressive range.

Her stellar showing in "Marguerite and Armand,’’ a 1963 piece by late British choreographer Frederick Ashton, justified the decision.

Marguerite and Armand was Kim’s first performance since she left the prima ballerina position at the state troupe. In her five performances from Friday to Sunday at the LG Art Center in Seoul, the 34-year-old repeatedly proved she could shine on her own toes.

Ashton originally created Marguerite and Armand for legendary dancers Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.

Influenced by Alexandre Dumas' "The Lady of the Camellias’’ and the Giuseppe Verdi opera’s "La Traviata,’’ the 35-minute dance portrays Marguerite

―

a Parisian courtesan

recalling her tragic love affair with Armand in a series of flashbacks while lying on her deathbed.

Kim Joo-won

It also has the reputation of being a difficult piece for dancers, who are required not only to be faultless in their movies, but express deep levels of emotion

As one of the most gifted dancers of her generation, Kim’s airy leaps and elegant expression of melancholy resulted in a convincing Marguerite. However, her presence also seemed too thoughtful and reserved to fully express the thrills of joy when she needed to.

Since the deaths of Fonteyn and Nureyev, the Frederick Ashton Foundation has been very picky about allowing new dancers to perform in Marguerite and Armand. Kim was one of the few to be permitted, along notable names like Julie Kent and Tamara Rojo.

Kim Hyun-woong, formerly Kim's longtime partner at the national ballet and now with the Washington Ballet, flew to dance opposite Kim. Irek Mukhamedov of the Slovene National Ballet played Armand's father who asks Marguerite to break up with Armand.

Pianist Cho Jae-hyuck played Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor for the dance piece. His rendition of the sonata was flawless and romantic, accompanying the dance smoothly.

To complement the one act ballet, Kim chose three pas de deux choreographed by Ashton as show openers. Kim danced the Thais Pas De Deux with Yoon Jeon-il; Yang Chae-eun and Lee Won-chul the Rhapsody Pas De Deux; and the Universal Ballet's star couple Hwang Hye-min and Ohm Jae-yong the Awakening Pas De Deux from "Sleeping Beauty."

Kim spent 15 years at the national ballet, playing leading roles including Odette and Odil in "Swan Lake," Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" and Fairy in Jean-Christophe Maillot's "Cinderella.”

Now Kim is beyond the criteria of a ballerina

she is a professor at Sungshin Women's University and a judge of the Korean version of “Dancing with the Stars.” Kim will take part in an interdisciplinary performance combining media art, dance and photography next month, offering hints of the ballet dancer’s ambitions.