That's what Julia Moon, director of the Universal Ballet, said as she recalled the adolescence of ballerino Jeon Min-cheol at a recent press conference for "Swan Lake." The boy once called the "long-legged teddy bear" has since grown into a dancer with the world-renowned Mariinsky Ballet, standing before domestic audiences as Prince Siegfried. It comes just a year after he joined the Mariinsky Ballet, one of the finest companies in the world, last year. At the time, the Mariinsky made headlines by breaking its custom of starting new members in the corps de ballet and recruiting him as a soloist.
In "Swan Lake," co-produced by the Universal Ballet and the Seoul Arts Center and running from the 14th to the 23rd at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center, Jeon Min-cheol showed a far more mature side. His technique, which has grown more refined over the past year, and his intensified energy caught the eye, but above all, Jeon's mature expressiveness was the highlight. In this production, where Universal Ballet stars including Lee Hyun-jun, Lee Dong-tak, Lim Seon-woo, Yoo Ju-hyung, Lee Seung-min, Elizaveta Cheprasova, Lee Yu-rim, Seo Hye-won, and Jeon Yeo-jin took turns in the lead roles, Jeon Min-cheol performed as a pair with Universal Ballet principal dancer Hong Hyang-gi.
Jeon, too, cited "emotional expression" as one of the most important virtues he learned at the Mariinsky. He said, "Acting is the part that shocked me the most and taught me the most in Russia," adding, "I experienced that even with the same dance, you can fully convey a character just by varying speed and force." He continued, "At the Mariinsky, not only the leads but all the dancers continuously express emotion through their bodies on stage," and "I learned that expressing emotion matters more than making the movements beautiful."
Taking the stage as Siegfried twice, Jeon proved this change with his body. He carefully traced the shifts in emotion—from a young man who seems somehow hollow even in the splendid court celebrating the prince's birthday, to the flutter and love of first meeting Odette by the lake, to the confusion and pain of realizing the truth after mistaking Odile for Odette. Through restrained yet abundant expression grounded in technique, he revealed Siegfried's inner life.
With Jeon's signature leaps, the atmosphere in the auditorium heated up instantly. Applause poured out each time he performed the "manège," bounding in continuous leaps around the stage, and the "grand jeté," stretching both legs far forward and back in the air. His tall 184-cm frame and long limbs stood out even more mid-air. With ample hang time and soft landings, even in his large movements he brought out a princely dignity and elegance rather than showing off power. Every time Jeon soared high, the audience's fervor rose with him, drawing a response reminiscent of an idol concert in those moments.
Jeon was not the only dancer to steal the audience's heart. Universal Ballet principal dancer Hong Hyang-gi portrayed the two contrasting characters of Odette and Odile with flawless technique and delicate acting. The mood shifted completely, especially as the black swan Odile. In the black swan's highlight, the 32 fouetté turns, she commanded the stage with an unwavering center and a sense of speed.
This "Swan Lake" follows the choreography and ending of the version that inherited the tradition of the Mariinsky Ballet. It is the essence of classical ballet, with Marius Petipa, former director of the Mariinsky Theatre, choreographing the court scenes of Acts 1 and 3, and assistant choreographer Lev Ivanov choreographing the lakeside scenes of Acts 2 and 4. While the court scenes emphasize splendid, structured group dances and technique, the lakeside scenes center on the perfectly synchronized ensemble of the swans and dreamlike, lyrical movement. The lavish dances unfolding at the court and the swans' group dance likewise starkly contrasted these two worlds.
Beyond the 30th anniversary performance of the Dance Department at the Korea National University of Arts on the 21st, Jeon Min-cheol will also take the stage at the ballet gala "A Midsummer Night's Ballet Festival," held at Ewha Womans University's ECC Samsung Hall from the 28th to the 30th. The Mariinsky Ballet's May Nagahisa, Lee Eun-won, and Park Sun-mi will also appear.
