Paris (AFP)

Dancer Sae Eun Park, 31, was named a dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet on Thursday evening, becoming the first South Korean to achieve the title in the prestigious company.

"On the proposal of Aurélie Dupont, director of dance, I have the immense pleasure of appointing Miss Sae Eun Park star dancer", announced the general manager of the Opera Alexander Neef on stage, at the end of a performance of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet".

“We all had the pleasure tonight to see a magnificent dancer who showed us the extent of her talent,” he said just before the announcement, which was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience at the Opera Bastille.

Miss Park performed the role of Juliet alongside Paul Marque, who was named Principal Dancer in December.

Promoted "Principal Dancer" in 2017 - the rank preceding the title of star - the Korean is hailed for her elegant technique and fluid dance.

Born in Seoul in December 1989, she was hired as a supernumerary just 10 years ago in the corps de ballet of the Opera, when she was already a soloist in her country.

"With the Korean National Ballet, I was a soloist and I danced the main roles", confided in 2019 to AFP the dancer with the shy voice.

"I entered the Opera, I was on a fixed-term contract and I was all the time behind the scenes but I learned a lot".

Grand Prix de Lausanne at 17 and gold medal in Varna - two important prizes in the world of ballet - this daughter of a pianist and a Samsung employee discovers the French style during a given course by a Korean ex-dancer from the Opera.

"It was a revelation," she said.

While different styles are associated with Western countries or Russia, there is no such thing as an Asian school proper.

Sae Eun Park was trained by Russian dancers in the Vaganova style in her native Seoul.

"Vaganova is more the upper body. With the French style, which is based more on the work of the feet, the technique came more naturally to me.

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But she remembers the advice of a former Russian teacher: "She said to me + Don't forget that despite the differences in style, the important thing is what you express from the inside +".

She is now one of the handful of foreign dancers who have achieved the title of star, such as the current star Ludmila Pagliero, first Latin American star of the Opera in 2012.

© 2021 AFP