Dancer's impressions of Europe

Lee Sang-eun of Dresden’s Semperoper Ballett, center, performs in the snow scene from Act 1 of the “The Nutcracker.” / Courtesy of Costin Radu

Life at Semperoper Ballet Lee Sang-eun: In search of my own true style

By Rachel Sang-hee Han

STUTTGART, Germany ― Dresden is a unique city of Germany: a mix of old and new, German and Czech and cultural and historical. In the center of Dresden’s very rich cultural background is the Semperoper, one of the most popular opera houses in Germany and even Europe. The Semperoper Ballett boasts various repertoires and dancers from around the world, and one of them happens to be Lee Sang-eun.

Lee started her career as a ballerina in Korea’s Universal Ballet Company (UBC) after graduating from Sunhwa Arts High School in Seoul. She joined the ballet company back in 2010 and was appointed as a soloist in 2013. I met her for brunch at a popular café called Max during my stay in Dresden last October and had an interesting interview about her life as a dancer, a foreigner and a young woman with endless possibilities in the German city.

Dresden is a unique city of both old and new. The Semperoper and ballet company are known to be the best in the country and are located in the heart of Altstadt. / Courtesy of Rachel Sang-hee Han

Opportunities

“I start from 10 a.m. to around 6 p.m. for rehearsals,” she said when asked about her daily routine, after ordering coffee in perfect German.

“There are much more repertoires (at the Semperoper), so it can get a bit hectic. But it’s also exciting at the same time.”

I remember Lee from when she was dancing for UBC before she moved to Dresden. If there is one thing that makes Lee extra special is her height of 181 centimeters, which is quite hard not to notice, even in Germany. But beyond that, I recall her very impressive performance of William Forsyth’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” in Seoul a few years ago. The modern piece requires not only grace and beauty as a dancer, but strength, charisma and control. And she nailed it.

She explained that her height didn’t really seem to matter at her current company, which means more opportunities for various roles and eventually more inspiration for the dancers.

Lee from the performance “Coppelia” Courtesy of Costin Radu

“I can’t say it was easy with my height, but because the company pursues so many different repertoires, it was definitely easier for me to try and experience new roles. “

“There’s not much competition. Everyone, all the dancers just love to dance, so everyone is very supportive. I feel so loved as a dancer here,’’ Lee said.

What would be the biggest and interesting difference between dancing and working in Korea and Germany, I asked.

“Everyone is not afraid to speak their minds,” she said, admitting that it was hard for her to speak up and share her opinion at first.

“Communication is key and this makes it so much more interesting for everyone, including the dancers and the audience. Even if it’s the same performance, there are various opinions so it’s fun and new to dance, or even just to watch.”

Four years and counting

One may think that living and working abroad without close family member and friends near can be hard, sometimes really hard. But when I asked Lee about her experience in Germany, she beamed.

“I’ve been here four years and I love it. I have to say there was a lot of getting used to, from the people, the streets, the German culture and the language, but now I’m happy and used to everything. I would really like to stay longer,” she said.

Korea is famous for its “star marketing” strategies, where a couple of star athletes, dancers or celebrities tend to lead the respective industry. It’s a win-win approach in the end, as it not only highlights the industry but also eventually nurtures and sparks interest in unknown and previously not so popular fields. The same goes to ballet with Stuttgart Ballet Company’s principal dancer and artistic director of the Korea National Ballet Company (KNBC) Kang Sue-jin, UBC’s Hwang Hye-min and KNBC’s Kim Joo-won. This has worked very effectively and still is going strong, but in Europe, where ballet first started, there tends to be more of a stable approach.

“The opera and ballet are very popular (in Dresden) and the people of Dresden have great pride in them. So there’s always a certain number of audience and thus, no such thing as a deliberate ‘star marketing’ approach. This eventually leads to more opportunities for even newcomers,” Lee explained.

“Like I said, the opera and ballet is something the city is very proud of and I feel lucky I am a part of that special bond. I have been given a lot of opportunities during my stay here and I obviously learned a lot. Currently, I am trying to find my own color. Hopefully, working here will help me find that,” she added.

Lee will appear on the European stage in the following months in the performances “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake,” “Giselle” and “Nordic Lights.”

Mix of old and new

A look inside the Semperoper house / Courtesy of Matthias Creutziger

Dresden is the capital of the Saxony region of Germany and is located in a valley on the River Elbe, very close to the Czech border. It was the royal residence of the Electors and Kings of Saxony, making it now one of the most cultural cities in the country. The city was nearly wiped out from bombings during the World War II, famously known as the “Bombing of Dresden” but has been restored over the years and has finally regained its nickname “Jewelry Box.”

The city is divided into two “towns,” the Altstadt, which represents the historical part of the city with museums, palaces and the opera house, and the Neustadt, which attracts the edgier, hipper and arty visitors with bars, graffiti and flea markets.

“It’s different from other German cities, I think. When I first got here, I was a bit confused because it didn’t feel like a typical German city. It somewhat felt a bit edgier. But the culture of Dresden is in fact very interesting: it’s a fusion of the digital age and the analogue age. From the outside, it seems to be a bit closed and unfriendly, but there are so much energetic and different cultures. For me, it’s a great place to get new ideas and inspiration,” Lee said.

Rachel Sang-hee Han is a former staff reporter at The Korea Times and former editor at CNN Travel. She lives in Germany and runs a travel blog at rachelsanghee.com