Kang Mi-sun, a principal ballerina at Universal Ballet, is seen in this photo provided by the ballet company.
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Kang Mi-sun, a principal ballerina at Universal Ballet, has shared the best female dancer award at the Benois de la Danse, one of the world’s most prestigious ballet awards.
The South Korean dancer picked up the honor at the awards ceremony in Moscow on Tuesday (Moscow time), together with China’s Qiu Yunting. The winners beat four other competitors from ballet companies from around the world.
Universal Ballet is one of South Korea’s two major ballet companies, along with the Korean National Ballet.
The 40-year-old Kang was recognized for her lead role as a widow in “Mirinaegil,” a creative piece premiered by the ballet company at a theater in Seoul in March.
“Honestly, I had completely no expectations as I was emptying my mind. I was truly surprised when my name was called, and I am grateful to receive this honorable award,” she told Yonhap News Agency by phone after receiving the honor.
She performed the ballet “Mirinaegil” with Lee Dong-tak, who is also a principal dancer from Universal Ballet, in a gala concert that was held at the Bolshoi Theater right after the ceremony.
“I still love dancing,” Kang said when asked about her future plans. “I hope to have more opportunities to showcase Korean ballet in other countries like this time. I want to introduce the beauty of Korean ballet to the world.”
The Benois de la Danse is one of the world’s most authoritative ballet awards, founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1991 to honor distinguished French choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810).
Park is the fifth Korean to win a Benois de la Danse prize after Kang Sue-jin (1999), Kim Joo-won (2006), Kim Ki-min (2016) and Park Sae-eun (2018).
Having graduated from Sunhwa Arts High School, Kang is currently serving as a principal dancer at Universal Ballet. Prior to that, she trained at the Washington Kirov Academy of Ballet in the United States.
In 2002, she joined Universal Ballet as an apprentice and rose through the ranks — starting as a corps de ballet dancer, then becoming a demi-soloist, a soloist and a senior soloist — before being promoted to principal dancer in 2012.
(Yonhap)
