Star Korean dancers’ homecoming

Dancers from Royal Swedish, Tulsa, ABT to perform in Korea in June and July


Korean dancers currently with acclaimed dance groups around the world are coming home over the summer to show off what they have learned from the international dance scene.

A number of Korean dancers active on U.S. and European stages will come together to perform not only classics, but their latest creations at the Korea World Dance Stars Festival 2012. The four-day festival kicks off at Theater Yong of the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on June 28-29, at Inje Cultural Complex in Gangwon Province on June 30 and Yeoncheon Sureul Art Hall in Gyeonggi Province.

“We have chosen the most acclaimed Korean dancers who have gained international recognition and are famous for their high-quality work. For the first time, this year’s festival will offer audiences outside Seoul an opportunity to appreciate Korean dancers’ outstanding artistic talents,” a festival organizer said.

The annual festival features Jun Eun-sun, now a soloist with the Royal Swedish Ballet; Cho Soo-youn, principal dancer for the Tulsa Ballet in the United States; Lee Sang-eun of Dresden Semperoper Ballet in Germany; and ballerina Chae Ji-young of the Washington Ballet in the U.S. 

Jun, a former principal dancer of Universal Ballet currently with RSB, one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe, will perform a pas de deux from “Coppelia” and a contemporary piece titled “In Light & Shadow” with her partner Dragos Mihalcea.

Cho, formerly with the Leipziger Ballet in Germany and now with the Tulsa Ballet, also plans to stage a pas de deux from “Romeo and Juliet” and “Wave of Spring,” choreographed by her partner Wang Yi.

Lee, known as the tallest Korean ballerina, who joined the German Ballet company based in Dresden, will perform a pas de deux from “Giselle” and “Vertigo Maze” with her partner Milan Madar.

The festival includes not only performances by Korean dancers from abroad, but dancers in Korea who will roll out their creative works. One of the leading dancers here, Jo Ju-hyun, will premiere her new group dance “Interrobang” while LDP, a group of male dancers, will stage “No Comment” featuring dynamic choreography.

Tickets for the festival range in price from 30,000 won to 100,000 won. For more information, call (02) 3674-2210 or visit www.ipap.co.kr.

Seo Hee, who danced “Giselle” at the Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House, the first time for a Korean, returns home with the American Ballet Theater. Seo, now an ABT member, made her Metropolitan Opera House debut in “Romeo and Juliet” in 2009, impressing the audience with her excellent technique as well as her delicate portrayal of the role. Seo, who started out as a member of the troupe’s corps de ballet in 2006, began her ballet training at Sun Hwa Arts Middle School in Korea and later moved to study at Universal Ballet Academy in Washington, D.C. and John Cranko Ballet Academy in Stuttgart. Seo is the recipient of the 2003 Prix de Lausanne Award and the 2003 Grand Prix at the Youth American Grand Prix in New York.

American Ballet Theater’s “Giselle” in Korea, featuring Korean ballerina Seo as Giselle, will be staged at the Seoul Arts Center on July 18-22. For more information, call (02) 598-3119 or visit www.thehent.com.

Kang Sue-jin, one of Korea’s most beloved ballerinas and the winner of the prestigious Benois Prize in 1999, will be performing in the role of Marguerite Gautier, a tragic courtesan in 19th century Paris, in “The Lady of the Camellias” in Seoul with the Stuttgart Ballet at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on June 16-17. For more information, call 1577-5266 or visit www.clubbalcony.com.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)