World-class ballet stars return to Korea to perform La Bayadere

“Ki-min is a respected dancer across the world today. I bragged to my colleagues at the Paris Opera Ballet that I was going to perform with ‘world star’ Kim Ki-min,” said Etoile Park Se-eun (age 35) of the Paris Opera Ballet of France.

“I used to tag along with Se-eun when I was in elementary school, asking to dance together. It’s all thanks to Se-eun that we are seeing a bigger presence of Koreans at the Paris Opera Ballet, known for its conservative culture in bringing dancers from other countries,” said Kim Ki-min (age 32), principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet of Russia.

Both dances will be performing as protagonists of the Korea National Ballet’s 'La Bayadere' at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on Friday and Sunday. Your reporter met with Park and Kim for an interview at the Seoul Arts Center on Sunday. When word spread that two dancers performed as partners for the first time in 14 years, tickets for about 2,000 seats per episode were sold out in 3 minutes. The last collaboration between the two was in 2010 with Universal Ballet’s ‘La Bayadere.’

What motivated the two to take up the opportunity to perform in Korea at this time when their ballet companies’ seasonal performance was in full swing? “It is meaningful because the National Ballet was where we danced together for the first time 15 years ago,” they said. “I had been too ambitious in ‘La Bayadère’ in 2010. This time, I will support Park so that her dancing stands out,” said Kim with a smile.

Park and Kim expanded their careers in Europe in 2011 as world-class dancers. Kim, who joined the Mariinskya Ballet and Park, who joined the Paris Opera Ballet, became the first Asian principal dancers in the history of their respective ballet companies in 2015 and 2021. At the ‘Benois de la Danse,’ known as the Academy Awards of the dance world, Kim Ki-min won the Best Dancer Award in 2016, and Park Se-eun won the Best Dancer Award in 2019.

The story of ‘La Bayadere,’ which means ‘temple dancer ’in French, is set in ancient India. The ballet depicts the tragic love between Nikya (performed by Park), a Hindu temple dancer, and Solor (performed by Kim), a warrior. Park Se-eun, who will perform ‘La Bayadère’ for the fourth time, praised Kim who has appeared in the same work nearly 100 times.

“His performance comes from the heart, and he has interpreted every version of ‘La Bayadère.’ My colleagues watched Ki-min’s video after he danced ‘La Bayadère’ with the Paris Opera Ballet in 2015. My colleagues were surprised at how well we danced despite his injury.”

Park and Kim are idols for Korean dancers who dream of becoming world-class ballet stars. Since Park, the number of Korean dancers with the Paris Opera Ballet increased to seven. Ballerino Jeon Min-cheol will be joining the Mariinsky Ballet.

“It is difficult to give advice to juniors because I feel they are advancing both physically and technically. In art, you must find your answer,” said Park.

“You end up being monotonous if you have only one dream. Don’t be afraid of exploring different directions. I hope to promote and encourage such an environment for dancers,” said Kim.


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