Universal Ballet's "The Nutcracker," a fixture of year-end stages in South Korea, marks the 40th anniversary of its domestic premiere this year. Actor Park Sang-won will make a special appearance, adding a new twist to the production.
The company said on the 23rd that it will stage "The Nutcracker" at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts Grand Theater from Dec. 17 to 30. The ballet, Universal Ballet's signature year-end repertoire, first opened in Korea at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center on Dec. 18, 1986, and has since been performed about 630 times, drawing a cumulative audience of 1.02 million for regular performances over four decades.
Originally choreographed by Adrienne Dellas for the premiere, the production is based on Vasily Vainonen's version and uses an adaptation shaped by Oleg Vinogradov, the veteran director who led the Mariinsky Ballet as artistic director for 23 years, along with Roy Tobias, Universal Ballet's third artistic director, and Yoo Byung-hun, its current sixth artistic director.
Six couples will dance the roles of Clara and the Nutcracker Prince this year: Kang Mi-sun and Konstantin Novoselov, Hong Hyang-gi and Lee Dong-tak, and Elizaveta Cheprasova and Dmitry Dyachkov, among others. Lee Yu-rim and Gantsooj Okhonbayar, as well as Seo Hye-won and Lee Hyun-jun, will appear as new pairings.
To mark the 40th anniversary, Park will make a special appearance as Drosselmeyer. Park, who currently chairs the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, will perform in five shows, on Dec. 20, 23, 25, 27 and 30.
Drosselmeyer is the mysterious figure who gives the young Clara a nutcracker on Christmas Eve and leads her into a magical adventure. Park, best known as an actor, worked as a professional dancer in younger years. "I'm thrilled that I can connect with audiences in a different way, on a stage where dancers' movements come together," Park said. "I will express Drosselmeyer's mysterious charm in my own way."
Moon Hoon-sook, general director of Universal Ballet, said it was all the more meaningful to work with Park, who demonstrated artistic range across ballet, modern dance and Korean traditional dance in his younger years.
