Kang Sue-jin (; born 24 April 1967) is a South Korean

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

. She is a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

Stuttgart Ballet Stuttgart Ballet is a leading German ballet company. Dating back to 1609, then the court ballet of the dukes of Württemberg, the modern company was founded by John Cranko and is known for full-length narrative ballets. The company received the L ...

Early life

Kang Sue-jin was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. After initial ballet lessons at Sun Hwa Arts Middle School, where she majored in Korean traditional dance, she continued her education at Sun Hwa Arts High School until 1982. Following graduation from high school, Kang went to

Marika Besobrasova Marika Besobrasova (russian: Мари́ка Безобра́зова, Maríka Bezobrázova; 4 August 1918 – 25 April 2010) was a Monegasque dancer and ballet teacher of Russian origin. She was a founder and a head of Princess Grace Classic Danc ...

at Monte Carlo Dance School. In 1986, she became a member of the Stuttgart Ballet, where she was appointed Soloist in 1994 and Principal Dancer in 1997. Following her long career as a ballet dancer, Kang was awarded an honorary degree from

Sookmyung Women's University Sookmyung Women’s University () is a private university in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1906, Sookmyung is Korea’s first royal private educational institution for women. The university's name is derived from the Hanja charact ...

in 2016.

Career

Kang joined Stuttgart Ballet in 1986 and was its first and youngest Asian ballerina. In 2002, Kang appeared in ''Die Kameliendame'' and two years later, she performed with Benito Marcellino in Cranko's '' Onegin''. Following the 2016 performance of the same ballet with Jason Reilly as partner, Kang had retired from performance. In 2003, Kang debuted in USA in a role of Juliet from Cranko's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' opposite to Romeo role by Filip Barankiewicz. In 2008, Kang reprised the role of Juliet in the same ballet. In 2013, Kang published her first memoir titled ''I Don't Wait for Tomorrow''. The same year she also became an honorary ambassador of PyeongChang at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. In 2015, Kang performed in

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also in ...

's ''Die Kameliendame'' in her hometown Seoul, South Korea and the same year appeared in Cranco's ''Onegin'' at

Seoul Arts Center The Seoul Arts Center, also referred to as SAC, is an arts complex in the Seocho-gu district of Seoul, in South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Han ...

where she sang the "Swan song". In 2017, Kang became a jury member of the Prix de Lausanne,

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

. and of the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition.

Featured performances

*1992 ''Mata Hari'' *1992 ''

'' *1993 ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' *1994 '' The Sleeping Beauty'' *1996 ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'' *1997 ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...

'' *1998 ''Die Kameliendame'' *1999 Gala performance - Korea's best Ballerina *2006 Korean Nat'l Ballet, 2006 New Year's Gala *2008 Appeared at Lotte Dept. Store CF. *2016 ''

The Lady and the Fool ''The Lady and the Fool'' is a ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with lesser-known operatic music by Giuseppe Verdi arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. The story concerns the love of a poor clown for a society beauty, who finally reject ...

Honours and awards

*Won a scholarship of

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition a ...

in 1985 *Recipient of the Korean Young Artist Award, 1998 *Recipient of the Best Female Ballerina Award at the

, 1999 *National Hwa-Gwan Order of Cultural Merit by the

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (South Korea) Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

, 1999 *

Ho-Am Prize in the Arts The Ho-Am Prize was established in 1990 by Lee Kun-hee, Kun-Hee Lee, the Chairman of Samsung, with a vision to create a new corporate culture that continues the noble spirit of public service espoused by the late Chairman Byung-chull Lee, founder ...

, 2001 *Recipient of the German title “ Kammertänzerin” (German: Royal Court Dancer), 2007 *Recipient of the John Cranko Award, 2007 *

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (german: link=no, Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Bad ...

, 2014 * Order of Cultural Merit, 2018 In 1998, German Orchid Society named an orchid from the ''

Phalaenopsis ''Phalaenopsis'' (), also known as moth orchids, is a genus of about seventy species of plants in the family Orchidaceae. Orchids in this genus are monopodial epiphytes or lithophytes with long, coarse roots, short, leafy stems and long-lasting ...

'' genus in her honor.

References

External links