Hee Seo: ABT's first Korean principal dancer

Hee Seo: ABT's first Korean principal dancer

Hee Seo in La Bayadere (ABT)

Hee Seo is a South Korean ballet dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. She has participated in various productions, giving her the reputation she has today. After watching her performances, I decided Hee Seo was the dancer I wanted to learn more about. I wanted to learn more about her journey from being a late bloomer, to now being a well-known principal dancer at ABT. Her style of dancing and expressions were very captivating to me. Much of the dancers we read about in our course textbook are from ballets’ place of origin, along with a few other countries, such as Russia. As it is interesting reading about their journeys, I wanted to read about the journey of someone outside of ballets’ place of origin. South Korea is a country that interests me, so coming across Hee Seo piqued my curiosity. Throughout this paper, the main focus will be around Hee Seos’ early life, her progression from an inexperienced dancer to becoming an astounding ballerina and her accomplishments, which include her winnings of two Prixs and the various scholarships she was awarded.

Hee Seo was born in the capital of South Korea, Seoul, on March 13th, 1986. She comes from a family with a history in studying fine arts. Her parents, siblings, and grandmother all had some sort of passion for fine arts. Her father is a professor in Korean literature while her mother is a painter. Her brothers and her all studied piano as well as swimming lessons. Hee Seo originally had no plans to become a ballet dancer. However, she noticed she did not excel in dancing, so she decided to take some dance lessons at a local studio. This is when 11-year-old Hee Seo began her path towards becoming a distinguished dancer. She was offered an opportunity to participate in the Sunhwa arts school entrance competition. Despite only having six months of dancing experience, she was awarded a scholarship thus marking this the start of her journey. Her teachers identified her skills long before she did. It is said that she has the perfect body for a ballerina. Along with her perfect facial expression, she was a perfect match for this position. Although she started training at a later age compared to other young dancers, she was able to catch up quickly, considering her artistic sensibility.

Hee Seo in The Sleeping Beauty

After only a year of training at Sunhwa arts school, she was awarded a 3-year scholarship to the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington, DC (Joseph Carman). She left Seoul, Korea, to start her formal dance training in the United States. At the Universal Ballet Academy, she studied under Alla Sizova. Under this scholarship she achieved great accomplishments. She won the Prix de Lausanne in 2003, thanks to her role as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. Within the same year, she won the Grand Prix at the Youth America Grand Prix. She was offered two scholarships following these achievements. Reid Anderson wanted Hee Seo to attend the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, Germany. Not long after, John Meehan, director of ABT, personally asked Hee Seo to join the ABT. She was aware of how prestigious they were, but wasn’t sure if ABT was where she wanted to continue training. She was influenced by Meehan’s remark to her in which he told her she would shine at ABT, convincing her to take up his offer. It’s important to note that she decided to join ABT while she was in Stuttgart. Both companies are very well known, however, she felt like her skills would truly excel with John Meehan. Soon after joining ABT, she joined the coups de ballet. In 2010, she became a soloist and in 2012, she was promoted to a principal dancer (American Ballet Theatre). ABT helped hone the dancing skills she was never aware of. She performed the female lead in various productions such as Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet, La Sylphide, and On the Dnieper (Hee Seo Facts for kids). From 2014 onward, she was given the leading roles in several productions. She created the principal roles for pieces like With a Chance of Rain, AFTERITE and Garden Blue. She is currently still dancing, as she has upcoming performances, mostly in New York, then Shanghai, China. In the video shown, Hee Seo is performing at the Grand Prix, which she later won.

(Seoul Cyber University)

A fact I found interesting about Hee Seo was that she started dance training later than other young dancers. Young dancers normally start training from a very young age, so by the time they reach their early teens, they are proficient in their skills. Hee Seo shared that she felt embarrassed because the other dancers were younger than her. However, being older gave her an advantage. She was able to pick up on the
moves much quicker. I also found it interesting that she comes from a family of people who specialize in fine arts. It makes me wonder if ballet wasn’t her profession, what would she have chosen. Since her talent was noticed by those around her and she has the perfect body for it, it’s safe to say she was destined to be a ballerina. Something that caught me off guard was that during an interview she shared that she is not a great dancer, outside of ballet (Joseph Carman). I was surprised because anyone would think those skills would be universal. Although she may not think she is a great dancer in general, her ballet skills shine when needed. In the video below, Hee Seo shares her experience while performing in Russia.

(Gustavo Dalmasso)

Hee Seo is a brilliant dancer with extraordinary skills. Learning more about her helped me gain more insight into the amount of effort and diligence that goes into becoming a ballet dancer. She has accomplished so much with the help of those around her along with her own determination. She still continues to put on beautiful performances up to this day. She currently models for Bloch and utilizes their pointe shoes. She shared in an interview that she’ll normally go through a pair once a day (Hee Seo Facts for kids). Her shows are sponsored by Pamela and David B. Ford (Hee Seo Facts for kids). Having heard stories about ballet dancers going through really demanding practices and suffering with mental health issues, it was heartwarming to read that Hee Seo doesn’t mind the challenges of this career. She shared that she likes to be challenged, physically and mentally. It’s more rewarding to her than repeating performances she has already done. It also allows for her to use her entire body, as she explained is what ABT instilled in her. (Joseph Carman). Ballet dancers work very hard for their achievements, building their reputation gradually. They are able to move beautifully, showcasing the endless hours they spend perfecting their moves. The video below shows an insight into what a ballerina's daily life looks like.

Sources cited

Carman, Joe. “Hee Seo.” Dance Magazine, vol. 82, no. 6, Dance Magazine, Inc, 2008, p. 72–.

“Hee Seo Facts for Kids.” Hee Seo Facts for Kids, Kiddle Encyclopedia, 2023, www.kids.kiddle.co/Hee_Seo.  

“Hee Seo.” American Ballet Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, 1 Oct. 2019, www.abt.org/people/hee-seo/.