Korean Ballerina Grabs 'Ballet Oscars'

By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter, The Korea Times

Kim Joo-won, right, performs as Medora in Korea National Ballet Company¡¯s 'Le Corsaire.'
Kim Joo-won, 28-year-old principal dancer of Korea National Ballet Company won the Best Female Dancer Award at the 14th Benois de la Danse that was held on Tuesday evening (local time) in Bolshoi Theater of Moscow.

Since its founding by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1991, the Benois De La Danse has been recognized as one of the most prestigious events in the world dance arena.

World-famous ballet stars such as Silvie Guillem, Julie Kent and Irek Mukhamedov previously won awards at the event that is dubbed ¡°the Academy Awards of the dance world.¡¯¡¯

Kim won by dancing the part of Medora, the main female character of Le Corsaire, performed by Korea National Ballet Company.

Five dancers from the world¡¯s greatest ballet companies were nominated for the Benois de la Danse award, including Kim and four others from Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theater and Bolshoi Theater.

Kim is the second South Korean ballerina to win the award. In 1999, Kang Su-jin won the award for her part in Lady of the Camellias of Germany¡¯s Stuttgart Ballet. Kim is the first Korean dancer based in Korea who has won the award with the work of a domestic ballet company, which makes Kim¡¯s accomplishment shine all the more for Korean ballet.

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