🩰 From K-Ballet's Grand Prix Sweep to a Master's Visit! This Week's Dance Hot Issues - 2026.05.22 | Modern Dance / Ballet

Hello, fellow dance geeks! Ballet fan reporting! 🩰✨ I'm feeling amazing today because we have a ton of incredible news. Take a deep breath, and let's dive right into this week's hot issues! 😆

🏆 K-Dancers' Insane Achievements

Our dancers are truly making history! Ballerino Seo Min-jun, currently studying at the Royal Ballet School in the UK, won the Grand Prix at the '2026 Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP)', the world's largest youth ballet competition ^[1]! Isn't it so proud that a Korean ballerino has won the Grand Prix for three consecutive years? Korean dancers also swept the other categories: Senior Pas de Deux 1st place (Kim Min-jin/Koo Sung-mo), Senior Women's Solo 1st place (Jung A-ra), and Men's Solo 2nd place (Son Min-gyun) ((ref:12), (ref:14)).

The news about dancer Yeom Da-yeon, who was the runner-up at this year's Prix de Lausanne, is also huge. She's skipping the trainee process and going straight to the prestigious Boston Ballet in the US as a full company member at the age of 17 ^[3]! Before she leaves, she will also perform in Jeong Hyeong-il Ballet Creative's contemporary ballet 'Mondrian', so it's a must-see ^[4].

🏛️ Welcome Faces and a Master's Visit

Choreographer Cha Jin-yeob (head of Collective A) has been appointed as the new director and artistic director of the National Contemporary Dance Company ^[5]. She was the choreography director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, so I'm so excited to see what kind of captivating performances she will show us over the next three years ^[6].

And everyone, get ready for ticketing! 'Kidd Pivot', led by Crystal Pite, one of the greatest contemporary choreographers, will visit Korea next month from June 5th to 7th at the LG Arts Center with their new work 'Assembly Hall' ^[7]. My heart is racing since it's their first visit in 6 years since the pandemic!

We can't leave out the news of Seoul Metropolitan Ballet's new work 'In the Bamboo Forest', which recently concluded successfully. As choreographer Kang Hyo-hyung's first full-length original work, it received rave reviews for perfectly embodying the elasticity and dynamism of bamboo through the dancers' movements ^[8].

🎭 Genre Destruction! The Infinite Transformation of Dance

Modern dance has entered movies and changgeuk (traditional Korean opera)! Did you see director Yeon Sang-ho's zombie movie 'Colony', which was released a couple of days ago (21st)? A whopping 20 professional modern dancers participated to complete the bizarre yet acrobatic zombie choreography ^[9]. You can witness the overwhelming movements in the theater ^[10].

The National Changgeuk Company's new work 'Hyomyeong', opening on the 23rd of next month, features choreography by Kim Jae-duk of Modern Table ^[11]. They are combining static traditional court dance with the dynamic beats of modern dance to create a 'Joseon Style', so fusion geeks must watch it ^[12].

Lastly, the 'Chuncheon Mime Festival' opens tomorrow (24th) in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do ^[13]! Various performances exploring the body, including mime, modern dance, and circus, will continue until the 31st, so I highly recommend it for a weekend outing.

I hope you feel overwhelmed with emotion with dance this weekend too! I'll be back with more fun news next week~ Bye! 💖