Marinsky Ballet Company Kim Ki-min's Korea Visit Canceled, 2-Week Self-Quarantine Exemption Fails

Ballerino Kim Gi-min.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The visit of world-renowned ballerino Kim Ki-min (29) to Korea has ultimately been canceled. Due to the failure to obtain a two-week quarantine exemption, he will not be able to perform in the National Ballet Company's upcoming production of 'La Bayadere' scheduled for next month.

The National Ballet Company announced on the 31st that the appearances of Kim Ki-min and Olga Smirnova, principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, who were scheduled to perform in 'La Bayadere,' have been canceled.

The National Ballet Company stated, "As COVID-19 continues globally, the quarantine of the two dancers became unavoidable, causing disruptions to rehearsal schedules and the overall progress of the performance. We have had to make the difficult decision to cancel their participation."

Originally, Kim Ki-min and Olga Smirnova were set to appear twice as the male and female leads, 'Solor' and 'Nikia,' on April 29 and May 1 respectively. Instead, the National Ballet Company announced replacement casting with principal dancers Shin Seung-won and Heo Seo-myeong performing on April 29, and Kim Ri-hoe and Park Jong-seok on May 1, each taking one additional performance.

Kim Ki-min joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2011 as the first Asian ballerino. He was cast in a lead role just two months after joining and was promoted to principal dancer in 2015. In 2016, he received the Benois de la Danse award, known as the Academy Award of the dance world, for Best Male Dancer.

The National Ballet Company plans to offer full refunds without cancellation fees only for the performances affected by the casting changes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.