UBC to stage momentous 'La Bayadere'
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A scene from the Universal Ballet Company’s (UBC) “La Bayadere” / Courtesy of the UBC
The Universal Ballet Company (UBC) will perform “La Bayadere,” one of the UBC’s most momentous productions, at the Seoul Arts Center from Tuesday through Sunday.
Since it premiered “La Bayadere” in Korea in 1999, the UBC has saved the masterpiece for important milestones ― to celebrate the company’s 15th anniversary in 1999, its 20th in 2004 and its 25th in 2009. It has not been staged since 2010.
It was also “La Bayadere” that helped put Korean ballet on the map when the UBC in 2001 toured major U.S. opera theaters performing it, including the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and the Los Angeles Music Center.
“Consequently, ‘La Bayadere’ represents the UBC’s growth,” said UBC Director Julia Moon. “Some 150 talented dancers, 400 costumes, great producers and a lot of marketing are required to get a ballet this big and magnificent onto the stage.”
“La Bayadere,” originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus, is a story of eternal love, mystery, fate, vengeance and justice. The highlight of the production comes in the third act with the “Dance of the Shades.”
Five couples will take on the roles of Nikiya, the bayadere and Solor, the warrior, over seven performances ― these include principal dancers Hwang Hae-min, Ohm Jae-yong, Kang Mi-sun, Konstantin Novoselev, Kim Na-eun and Lee Dong-tak.
Kang, in particular, will dance Nikiya’s and Gamzatti’s parts, two conflicting characters, in separate performances. For more information, visit
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