Play-with-Korea

With only a half-century long history, Korean ballet is making rapid progress in the international arena.
Most recently, Korean ballerina Seo Hee has been promoted to a soloist position in the prestigious American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

This is one of the top five ballet theaters in the world, along with the Moscow-based Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov-Mariinsky Ballet of Russia, Britain's Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. These are known as dream ballet theaters which only top dancers can join. (Left: Seo Hee, Yonhap News)

She is the first Korean dancer to become a soloist in the ABT. A soloist is a dancer who plays main parts along with principal dancers.

Seo has previously been in the theater's "corps de ballet," ballerinas who dance in groups, since 2006. Currently, there are only seven soloists in the theatre, including Seo, out of a total of 80 ABT dancers.

Since joining the ABT in 2004, Seo has performed various roles in "Giselle," "La Bayadere," "La Sylphide" and "Swan Lake." In July 2009, Seo played Juliet in the theater’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” which was staged in New York, becoming the first Korean dancer to play a main role in the ABT. This was also a big surprise within ballet circles because it is not usual for a member of the corps de ballet to get a leading role.