In most cases, people who become professional ballet dancers are introduced to the sport at the ages of three to five years old. This, however, does not mean that any age is too late to start learning. Hee Seo is the first Asian ballerina to become a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), which is the highest position a dancer can have within a ballet company. Although people assume she started training at a young age, she did not begin learning ballet until she was twelve years old. Despite starting her journey at an older age, her skills were spotted by many people who eventually helped her to get in the position she is in now.
In 1986, Hee Seo was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up with her two siblings. She trained in swimming with her brothers, however, towards the end of elementary school, she wanted to stop swimming and explore a new sport. Her parents are described as being supportive of her desires rather than forcing her to pursue a specific path. They allowed her to begin learning ballet to see if it was something she was interested in. While being the student class president, the dean took notice in Hee Seo’s new interest in ballet and invited her to participate in an audition to enter Sun-Hwa Arts Middle School. Thanks to this interaction, she was able to officially begin her journey in the field of ballet.
After auditioning to enter Sun-Hwa Arts Middle School, Hee Seo was accepted with a scholarship and officially began training in ballet. Beginning a new sport in a setting full of people more experienced was not an easy journey. In an interview done by The Korea Society, she states, “I was not ready. I didn’t have any basic training at all, but I think they saw something in me that lead me into the art school.” The Sun-Hwa Arts Middle School was partnered with Universal Ballet Academy, giving dancers a chance to be discovered and recruited. Even as a beginner, she showed enough potential to be offered another opportunity to study ballet in the District of Columbia (DC). Though she was young, her parents allowed her to continue exploring the field of ballet and move away from her family. Hee Seo would continue to also attend John Cranko Ballet Academy in Stuttgart, Germany before participating and winning in both the 2003 Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and the 2003 Grand Prix at the Youth American Grand Prix. By winning these competitions, more opportunities were opened to her as she was offered another scholarship to a prestigious school. In the end, she decided on going to ABT, starting as an apprentice in 2005 but later becoming a soloist in 2010 and finally being promoted to principal in 2012. She never felt confident in officially pursuing ballet as her career until she joined ABT and got to witness the beauty of ballet, however, the seven years until she became a principal were the most difficult due to the feeling of uncertainty. Understanding that the career of a ballerina is shorter compared to other occupations, she took part in any performances she could. She started at the bottom of ABT and mentions in the interview how she is “proud that [she] went through all of the ranks because there isn’t a part that [she] has not danced.” She has danced for every role for a performance and is now able to understand the meanings behind each of the characters and their significance to the story. This further helps her portray a more accurate representation of the character in the performances.
Even within ballet, Hee Seo especially fell in love with watching and performing classical ballet. Between John Cranko Ballet Academy and ABT, ABT offered more variety in genres, encouraging her to join the company when she was offered a chance after winning the competitions. Her favorite ballet is Swan Lake due to the complexity of the characters. Once a dancer can perform both roles of the swans, it feels like they have officially become a ballerina. As an aspect of what makes someone a ballerina, she believes that imagination plays a big role. Since everyone has a different view on how they wish to portray a certain character, the power of having a unique imagination while still following the story makes every dancer strong in specific genres. In 2015, she founded the Hee Seo Foundation to give back to her community. Since she was given many opportunities by people around her, she has now made it her mission to help young dancers in her hometown. She gives dancers scholarships and opportunities to get into school. She believes that even if the dancers do not necessarily find success, the knowledge they learned outside can be brought back to South Korea to help the next generation of dancers. The mission of her foundation is to help with anything related to ballet, and in return, it fulfills her heart to see the outcome of her efforts.
Even though she started at a later age compared to most professional ballerinas, it has not affected how successful Hee Seo has become as a ballerina. She has a very inspiring story as she quickly rose through the ranks and is now able to help the next generation of dancers. Her repertoire of roles she has played in performances lists over fifty different shows and many roles for some of the shows. Although it may not be a significant discussion of insecurities, seeing someone who is a late bloomer to any sport become very successful in the field will continue to inspire many more people to pursue any dreams they have without feeling incapable due to their timing in life.
“BALLET - Hee Seo (Age 16):
Paquita Variation - Youth Grand Prix 2003.” YouTube, YAGP - Youth
American Grand Prix, 11 Nov. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWQg9ikSzeo.
Accessed 11 May 2023.
Browar, Ken, and Debrorah
Ory. “Hee Seo in NYC Dance Project.” Hee Seo, NYC Dance Project, 2016,
https://www.nycdanceproject.com/hee-seo-1. Accessed 11 May 2023.
Hee Seo Foundation,
https://www.heeseofoundation.org/.
“Hee Seo.” American
Ballet Theatre, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.abt.org/people/hee-seo/.
Kourlas, Gia. “A Fresh
Perch on the Career Ladder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3
May 2013,
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/arts/dance/hee-seo-american-ballet-theater-principal.html.
Oh, Jay, and Hee Seo. “A
Conversation with Hee Seo.” The Korea Society, 24 Sept. 2020,
https://www.koreasociety.org/special-events/item/1425. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.
Schiavone, Gene. “Hee Seo
in Giselle.” Hee Seo, ABT, https://www.abt.org/people/hee-seo/. Accessed
11 May 2023.
Schiavone, Gene. “Hee Seo
in Les Sylphides.” Hee Seo, ABT, https://www.abt.org/people/hee-seo/.
Accessed 11 May 2023.
“Seo in Giselle.” Why ABT Principal Hee Seo Loves the Art of Giving Back, Hannah Rubin, 15 Apr. 2019, https://pointemagazine.com/hee-seo-abt/. Accessed 11 May 2023.
“[OffStage: Ballet in
Nature] American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Hee Seo 수석무용수 서희.” YouTube, Koreaculturedc, 11 Nov. 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETfLWhomp5o. Accessed 11 May 2023.
Comments
Post a Comment