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

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

. 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 either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

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 ...

Early life

Kang Sue-jin was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. 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 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 women's research university in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1906, Sookmyung is Korea’s first royal private educational institution for women. Sookmyung is one of the world's largest ...

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 ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' 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 The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. In 2015, Kang performed in

John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer of Hamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024 and the artistic director of the ballet at the Hamburg State ...

'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 (SAC; ) is an arts complex in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Hangaram Art Museum; the Hangaram D ...

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'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

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

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

'' *1997 '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' *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 rejec ...

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 ...

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 The Order of Cultural Merit is an honour or decoration awarded by a country. It may refer to: *Order of Cultural Merit (Korea) *Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) *Order of Cultural Merit (Romania) *Order of Cultural Merit (Tunisia) *Ordem do Mérito ...

by the

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (South Korea) The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST; ) is a central government agency of South Korea responsible for the areas of tourism, culture, art, religion, and sports. It has two vice ministers, three assistant ministers, one commission, ...

, 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, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, 2014 *

, 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-lastin ...

'' genus in her honor.

References

External links