[NC Rising] Sunmi Park Climbs to Principal at American Ballet Theatre

Photo courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

[News Culture] Sunmi Park is officially a principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre.

The Korean ballerina received the promotion on July 15, moments after taking her final bow as Odette and Odile in “Swan Lake” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. ABT revealed the news during the curtain call, turning an already major night for Park into a career milestone.

It is the latest step in a remarkably fast ascent for the Korea National University of Arts graduate, who joined ABT Studio Company in 2021, moved into the main company the following year and reached soloist rank only seven months later.

Susan Jaffe, ABT’s artistic director, singled out Park’s artistic depth and quiet authority onstage, praising the way she has continued to grow with each new challenge. Her promotion places her alongside Hee Seo and Joo Won Ahn as one of the Korean dancers to have reached the company’s highest rank.

Park’s path to New York began at age 10. She went on to train at Sunhwa Arts School, the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts and Korea National University of Arts, building an early reputation for clean technique, musicality and unusual maturity onstage.

Competition success soon followed. In 2017, Park became the first Korean dancer to win the junior division at the Moscow International Ballet Competition. She added another major title a year later with first place in the senior pas de deux category at the Youth America Grand Prix.

Photo courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

Her rise at ABT has been driven as much by dramatic range as by technique. One of the performances that brought her wider attention was Tita in the U.S. premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate,” a role that gave Park room to show a more layered, theatrical side of her dancing.

Now, with principal status secured, Park moves into the top tier of one of the world’s leading ballet companies—less than five years after first entering ABT through its studio company.

Reported by News Culture [e-mail]