South Korean dancer Park Sae-eun of the Paris Opera Ballet speaks during a press conference in Seoul on July 19, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Park Sae-eun already rose to the position of superior dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) when she was promoted to principal dancer, or “star dancer” in French, last month.
But the 31-year-old South Korean is aiming higher: she wants to be the brightest star of French ballet.
“I think I’ve reached the highest position on my resume,” she said at a press conference in Seoul on Monday. “I want to focus on the things I can do and have to do, so I became the best star dancer among the other star dancers in France.”
She is the first Asian to become a star in the troupe’s 350-year history. Currently, there are 16 dancers, including Park at the POB.
She said she has always been in good spirits since the promotion as she has to get to grips with many of the privileges given to a prima ballerina at POB. She now has her own dressing room and an assistant and has received loads of congratulatory messages from friends.
“I’m still a little excited,” she said. “I think I’ll realize that fact when I play ‘Defile’ in September.”
Before starting a new season in September, the POB will organize a gala concert, and all of the 200 members of the company, from the students of the academy to the dancers of the star, will take the stage in “Defile”, c ie a parade in English.
She said she would be introduced to the French public as a new star at this year’s gala concert.
South Korean dancer Park Sae-eun of the Paris Opera Ballet performs “Romeo and Juliet” at the Opéra Bastille in Paris on June 10, 2021, in this photo provided by Park.
It only took 10 years for Park to earn the No. 1 spot at the POB.
Since joining the POB in 2011, Park has received a lot of attention for her unusually quick promotion. She landed the position of soloist two years later and was promoted to the current rank of “first dancer”, the second highest rank in Parisian ballet, in 2016.
In 2018, she won the prize for best dancer at the Benois de la Danse, one of the most coveted prizes in the world of ballet. She is the fourth Korean to win a Benois de la Danse award after Kang Sue-jin (1999), Kim Joo-won (2006) and Kim Ki-min (2016).
But Park said she needed more to become POB’s brightest star, where few Asian dancers have made their presence felt for centuries.
“I have so much to do because there are a lot of directories that I haven’t tried yet,” she said. “The artistic director pointed out my strengths and my weaknesses. I want to try harder to develop my good points.
(Yonhap)
