TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results'Art transcends race': Paris Opera Ballet's first Asian etoile ballerina
Within a decade, Sae Eun Park has become the first Asian ballerina to reach the top "etoile" -- or "star" -- rank in the Paris Opera Ballet's 352-year history.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
This picture taken on July 23, 2021 shows Paris Opera Ballet's first Asian etoile ballerina Sae Eun Park speaking during an interview with AFP in Seoul. (AFP/Yelim Lee)
W
hen Sae Eun Park auditioned for the world's oldest ballet institution, her Paris hotel room was so small she could not fully stretch her legs.
A decade later the South Korean has become the first Asian ballerina to reach the top "etoile" -- or "star" -- rank in the Paris Opera Ballet's 352-year history.
The 31-year-old's promotion came as the world of elite classical ballet faces growing calls for diversity and inclusion.
She is one of only two current foreign-born etoiles at the renowned company, defying years of different training, a language barrier, injury and the POB's notorious competitive exams, which determine all but the highest promotions through its rigid five-rank hierarchy.
"I believe that art -- not just dance -- transcends nationality and race," Park told AFP.
"I became the first Asian ballerina to be an etoile and it's very much become a talking point, but I think of it as something that's very natural."
A Seoul native, Park trained in Russia's "Vaganova" ballet method -- which emphasises soulful expression, strength and flexibility -- in South Korea's top art institutions.
