On the outdoor stage of the Seoul Arts Center ballerinas and ballerinos wrapped up their dance routine to the tune of Johann Strauss’ Voices of Spring waltz. The audience seemed to have given a bigger and more appreciative applause today, perhaps because the ballet production was accompanied by helpful commentaries, which pointed out the characteristics and focal points of each performance.

- I didn’t like other ballet performances because they were too hard to understand. All I’ve seen was in the book or on TV. But here it was nice to hear the commentaries. I was able to see the real appeal of ballet.
- Because of the commentaries, understanding ballet was not that hard. I now want to see other ballet performances.

This is the Ballet Festival Korea, making ballet easier for ordinary Koreans.

Marking its third year, the Ballet Festival Korea opened on June 1. Shattering the preconception of ballet as a genre that’s too hard for ordinary people to understand, the festival offers a chance for the general public to feel closer to this discipline. Here’s Director Kim In-sook of the festival’s organizing committee.



Korean ballet has risen to the world level. Ballet audiences have grown substantially as well. More Koreans love ballet and more Korean children are taking ballet classes, which means that ballet has gotten closer to ordinary Koreans. Korean ballet is more respected now. People want to know more about this genre and in order to meet this rising demand we are holding this festival. By diversifying the repertoire, we hope to make Korean ballet known to the world.

The Ballet Festival Korea will run until July 13th, with eighteen ballet troupes presenting 35 rounds of performances. In the first two years the festival lasted for only about 15 days, but this year the ballet celebration runs three times longer, about a month and a half. This indicates how keen Korean people’s interest in ballet has become. Here’s Director Kim In-sook of the festival’s organizing committee is here to tell us more.

The number of participating ballet companies increased considerably from the previous years. Accordingly, the participants have diversified, from young children’s ballet academy to established choreographers and professional ballet troupes. Even the venues have expanded to include various stages in the Seoul Arts Center grounds. This is an opportunity to enjoy a wide range of ballet style, from classical ballet and drama ballet to creative ballet.

In addition to Korea’s new, rising ballerinas like Choi Tae-ji and Moon Hoon-sook, Korean ballet dancers are making names for themselves in the global stage, from the legendary Kang Sue-jin of the Stuttgart Ballet and the American Ballet Theater’s principal dancer Seo Hee to ballerino Kim Hyun-woong, a recent member of the Washington Ballet. As these stellar dancers illustrate, Korea has become an emerging star in the world of ballet. Despite the worldwide presence of Korean ballet dancers, however, this dance genre remains distant and unfamiliar to the general population of Korea. This is why the performances at the Ballet Festival Korea are so special and meaningful. The performances are categorized by genre and the audience’s level of understanding of ballet. This arrangement has made ballet more accessible to ordinary Koreans. Here’s Director Kim In-sook of the festival’s organizing committee for more.



Tchaikovsky’s “The Mystery of Life and Death” by the Korean National Ballet and the Universal Ballet’s “Onegin” are high quality performances, since they are done by professional ballet companies. But a number of new choreographers are presenting their works at other venues. We believe some star choreographers of the future will come out of that group. The productions of established choreographers staged at CJ Towol토월 Theater show their artistic maturity. Outdoor performances are accompanied by commentaries to help audience members appreciate the dances better. Each and every one of them is an exceptional production.

This is the first scene of the rising choreographer Jung Hyoung-il’s “Freedom from Weight.” Comprised of two acts, this piece is about a man’s dream to escape from the constraints of reality. Here’s its choreographer, Jung Hyoung-il, to explain more.

This is about a human yearning to be free from the pressures and constraints in the real life. The first act is about life in outer space. Since space has no gravity, I named the act “Life in Heaven.” I imagined how free our movements would be in zero gravity. The second act is about real life, so it depicts the restrictions in our real lives. We cannot escape the law of gravity in real life, so naturally our movements are constrained as well.

In order to portray two different worlds of weightless space and in gravity-controlled reality, the ballet dancers show very difficult, almost acrobatic, moves. The audience cannot help but be mesmerized by the dancers’ unique and gravity-defying movements. Also, the stage is not too far from the spectator seats, so the emotions and energy of the dancers are delivered straight to the audience.



- I was able to see the dancers’ facial expressions and body movements. It’s hard to realize from afar how beautiful these dance movements are, but from up close I can see how difficult they are. I realized how much effort they put into this production when I saw a dancer trembling after doing several pirouettes.
- I felt closer to the dancers since the distance between the dancers and the audience was narrowed in the small theater. Creative ballet productions had unfamiliar themes, so I had an opportunity to enjoy very unique ideas.

Choreographer Kim Sung-min’s production called “Moment” stood out for the rare presence of a conductor and an orchestra on stage.

This piece called “Moment” is a series of short performances about the moments we tend to forget as we live our lives, like the moment we fell in love or first danced.

The performance was ever more dynamic since it took place with the orchestra right on the stage with the dancers. This creative ballet piece certainly gave a refreshing jolt to the audience with its original experimentation.



- Unlike other ballet pieces, it was more dynamic, because of the orchestra and the conductor. I got more familiar with ballet through this performance.
- I thought ballet dancers just jumped and turned wearing embarrassingly tight costumes. I never realized how beautiful and sophisticated the movements were.

As they watched the dancers’ intricate yet powerful movements, even those who thought ballet was too hard to understand began to feel the dance’s attraction. Here’s choreographer Jung Hyoung-il.

Ballet’s appeal is its exquisiteness and elegance. Ballet dancers try to express those qualities as much as they can with their bodies. Ballet’s geometrical movements and beautiful body lines evoke a different sense of awe and emotional response than other dance disciplines.

If the aloofness of ballet is dispelled by the various performances of fifteen dance troupes at indoor venues, your understanding of ballet would be greatly enhanced by the outdoor ballet performances with commentaries.



When everyone is asleep a ballerina dressed like a doll enters the stage, followed by two ballerinos in love with the doll. There are only three dancers on the stage, but the combination of their lovely movements and cheerful music is quite delightful. Here’s Lee Won-kook of the Lee Won-kook Ballet Company, who organized this commentary-accompanied ballet performances.

Commentary comes first and then the audience is left to enjoy the performance. In classic performances like Don Quixote, you have to focus on ballet’s stereotypical beauty, disciplined movements, and body lines. Modern ballet productions include “All That Jazz” from the musical Chicago, “Voices of Spring,” and “Fairy Dolls,” which are visually stunning. Also exceptional are the dancers’ dynamic movements like lifts and pas de deux, so you should pay attention to those as well.

The Ballet Festival Korea plays an instrumental role in making ballet easy for ordinary Koreans. For a month and a half, the festival gives an opportunity for young ballet dancers to reach for their dreams, for up-and-coming choreographers to showcase their creativity, and for established choreographers to remind themselves what ballet means to them. It is a chance for the choreographers and ballet dancers to build a new, more familiar relationship with the audience. Measuring up to their status as Korea’s top ballet dancers, the festival participants wow the audience with their remarkable skills. The Ballet Festival Korea is demonstrating how beautiful and accessible this dance discipline is and how far Korean ballet has come in the global stage.