INTERVIEW Prima ballerina Kim Ji-young recounts 20 years at Korean National Ballet
Prima ballerina Kim Ji-young bows after performing "Giselle" at the Seoul Arts Center on June 23. Courtesy of Korean National Ballet
By Anna Park
Over the past 20 years, prima ballerina Kim Ji-young has been the face of the Korean National Ballet (KNB) ― she joined the national troupe in 1997, after completing her studies at Russia's prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1996. Kim has been performing various principal roles at the ballet company from innocent Giselle to femme-fatale Carmen, bringing life to each character with virtuosic technicalities and stellar sensitivity.
Kim, 40, has been the principal dancer in every major performance of the national ballet company for so long that many ballet fans in the nation found it hard to believe when their beloved ballerina announced her planned departure from the KNB this summer.
Kim will officially leave the national ballet company at the end of August, and “Giselle” on June 23 at the Seoul Arts Center was her last performance for the national ballet's official season program. After the last “Giselle” performance ended, a surprise ceremony took place. As her past performance photos were shown on a screen at the stage, she received a flower and a hug from each member of the company.
“At first, when the slides started to be screened on the stage, I did find it amusing and joyful,” Kim said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “But when my colleagues started to give me flowers, one by one, I just could not hold back my tears.”
She decided about a year ago to leave the national ballet company after being offered a ballet professor post at Kyung Hee University.
“I thought about the matter deeply when the university contacted me, and I notified the ballet company in June 2018 that I would leave the next year,” she said. “Even after I told the ballet company of my decision, my heart wavered during the last year. Every performance felt much more precious, and I even regretted my decision to leave. Or sometimes I regretted not having retired sooner, as I really hoped to leave the stage when I could offer my best in every possible way.”
Korean National Ballet's principal dancer Kim Ji-young performs "Giselle" at the Seoul Arts Center on June 23. Courtesy of Korean National Ballet
But she became calmer as her last “Giselle” performance in June approached. She said she tried not to think about it too much.
“During my preparation for the final performance, I tried to take it as just another ordinary routine as much as possible,” she said. “I feared that unless I thought this way, I would get carried away in my emotions, and could not perform at my best.”
Now that a little time has passed since the epic performance, the prima ballerina said she was still remaining calm, busy preparing for her gala performances of “Ballet of Summer Night,” at the Seongnam Arts Center on July 13-14. Many global ballet stars, including the Royal Ballet's Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov, Bolshoi Ballet's Evgenia Obraztsova, Boston Ballet's Han Seo-hye and Patric Palkins, will also perform.
“Even though my roles at the KNB's official season programs are over, I have other gala performances,” Kim said, her eyes sparkling. “On July 13-14, I will do a solo dance of 'The Dying Swan,' as well as duets from 'Spartacus' and 'The Talisman' with KBN principal dancer Lee Jae-woo.”
The retiring ballerina will start teaching at the university this fall, but that does not mean audiences won't be able see her on stage again. Kim is scheduled to dance for a neo-classic ballet, choreographed by Yoon Jeol-il, at the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju in September. Another performance is also planned for October, although more details are not yet available.
“From this autumn, I hope to give a lot to my students in my teaching, so that they can develop well to absorb the beauty of ballet,” she said. “For now, I am focusing on preparing for the remaining performances, as they are so precious.”
Prima ballerina Kim Ji-young performs "Romeo and Juliet" at the Seoul Arts Center in 2011. Courtesy of Korean National Ballet
Asked about her favorite role, Kim answered without hesitation: “It's definitely 'Romeo and Juliet.' Its plot and main characters' emotions are so real and true, even today. For instance, 'Giselle' or 'Swan Lake' have also so much beauty in them, but they have very fairly-tale-like plots. Unlike those, 'Romeo and Juliet' comes so real and close to me. I danced this work in three different choreographer versions, and I loved them all. Whenever I dance Juliet, I feel like that I am Juliet herself.”
She also recounted her years at the Dutch National Ballet. In 2002, she joined the national ballet company in the Netherlands as a grand sujet dancer, and became a principal dancer in 2007. Kim danced there until 2009, when she decided to return to the Korean National Ballet at the request from then-artistic director and CEO Choi Tai-ji.
“I joined the Dutch National Ballet because I wanted to experience a wider spectrum of ballet works, beyond typical classical ballets,” Kim said. “I loved my time there because I could learn so much about various great ballet works.”
For the past 20 years, her life has been one of daily bar exercises and rehearsals, day in and out. She believes that a regular daily schedule has helped her overcome slumps and pain from injuries.
“Pain is always an integral part of being a ballerina, whether it be physical or psychological,” she said. “Whenever slumps come, I just try to accept and embrace it, without overly trying to avoid it. Then it just passes. All in all, looking back, I was happy because of ballet. Whenever I dance, I feel like I am doing what I have to do in this world.”
The Korean National Ballet will now have six other principal dancers: ballerinas Park Seul-ki, Kim Li-hoe and Shin Seung-won and ballerinos Lee Young-cheol, Lee Jae-woo and Kim Ki-wan.