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“At the Mariinsky I never rehearsed for more than an hour, so spending three hours straight rehearsing—without a sip of water or a bathroom break—to perform a piece I’d long dreamed of was a truly happy moment,” Kim Ki-min said.
Kim, a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet, spoke ahead of his appearance in Boléro with Béjart Ballet Lausanne (BBL), which runs April 23–26 at the GS Art Center in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul. At a press conference there on April 22, he called Boléro “my dream” and said it was an honor to guest with BBL. “I was so nervous I couldn’t sleep on the plane, but that nervousness makes me feel I can give a better performance, so I’m actually glad,” he said.
Since its 1961 premiere, Boléro has become a hallmark of BBL. Founder Maurice Béjart paired Ravel’s score with choreography that heightens the work’s relentless momentum. Kim will be the first Korean to dance the central role of La Mélodie, appearing onstage April 23 and 25. His solo is performed atop a table while roughly 38 dancers encircle him in ensemble.
Kim described rehearsals with BBL as focused but warm. He said he became so absorbed in every word from artistic director Julien Favro that three hours would pass before he noticed. “I saw that each dancer brings their own philosophy to the work, and as La Mélodie I’ll do my utmost to finish beautifully on that table,” he said. He added that Boléro’s repeated melody makes learning the sequence especially tricky. “Even dancers who’ve danced it for 30 years sometimes forget the order, so I searched for my own method. Fortunately my ear is decent, and I memorized the instruments as they enter—flute, clarinet, bassoon, and so on,” he said.
Favro praised Kim as “very smart” and receptive, adding that he advised Kim not to imitate anyone or adopt a fixed image but to be himself onstage.
The Korea run will present Boléro alongside other BBL staples including Hamlet, The Firebird and La Luna. Korean ballerina Lee Min-kyung, a BBL company member since 2020, will dance Ophelia in Hamlet. Lee, who is a year ahead of Kim at Yewon School, said she feels proud and honored to be the only Korean in the company for this production.
Founded in 1987 by choreographer Maurice Béjart and often called “a legend of contemporary ballet,” BBL has expanded the boundaries of modern ballet by adding original choreography to classical technique. Solène Buirel, who stars in La Luna, said the company brings together dancers from roughly 20 countries and presents works that blend national cultures with Béjart’s human, universal themes. Favro, who performed in Korea as a dancer during BBL’s 2011 visit, said this tour aims to deliver both artistic and technical value to Korean audiences.
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