Ballet for all 

Performance History

2021.11.27. Asia Culture Center Theater1, Gwangju

 

About the Work

"What does it mean to practice ballet in Korea, in East Asia?"

It proposes an alternative ballet—not one that replicates Western traditions, but one that is for all bodies.

In 2021, South Korean ballerina Se-Eun Park made headlines when she was named an Étoile, the highest rank of principal dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet. Celebrated in Korea as an achievement comparable to Yuna Kim’s(Olympic Figure Skating Champion in Korea) global success, her rise reflects the remarkable growth of ballet in South Korea. Once a European classical dance form, ballet has become one of Korea’s prominent art forms, with Korean ballet now reaching international stages. How did ballet come to hold such a prominent place in Korean culture? Its rise can be traced, in part, to state investment in Western arts during Korea’s modernization after the Korean War, as well as to the public’s aspiration toward Western ideals of the body and beauty. Tracing the rapid development of Korean ballet and the aesthetics it has shaped, this project questions the ballet industry’s position as an elite art form. At the same time, it searches for moments when the established aesthetics of ballet begin to shift—through an exploration of “ballet for every body,” across bodies and generations in their seventies, thirties, and teens.

 

Credit

Choreographer: Yoon Sangeun

Performers: Yoo Soonduk, Yoo Jimin, Yoon Sangeun

Associate Research: Shon Yennie

Operator: Park Taein 

Music: Music for Ballet Class, Vol. 13(Ballet du Soiree) by Kim Eunsoo

Casting: Kang Minhyeong 

Interviewee: Noh Yoonjung, Park Seungah, Yang Heeji, Yun Danwoo, Hong Juyeon

Support: Asia Culture Center

• This work was presented as a showcase at the 2021 Asia Dance Community Choreographer Lab Residency at the Asia Culture Center(ACC).