Moon Byeong-nam, Artistic Director of M Ballet Company, Passes Away at 64

Moon Byung-nam, artistic director of M Ballet Company, passed away on the 9th at the age of 64.

He joined the National Ballet Company in 1984 and worked as a principal dancer for 10 years, opening the first golden age of Korean ballet. Afterwards, he served as a board member, resident choreographer, and deputy artistic director of the National Ballet Company, contributing to the development of Korean ballet. In 2009, while serving as the deputy artistic director of the National Ballet Company, he choreographed "Prince Hodong," the first work of the national brand project. At that time, "Prince Hodong" was the first full-length Korean ballet work created in over a decade. The ballet was invited as the opening piece at the International Dance Festival held at the Teatro di San Carlo in Italy in 2011, and Moon Byung-nam became known as the first Korean choreographer to bring a full-length ballet work to the world stage.

His major works include "Prince Hodong," "Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven," "May Wind," "Cheoyong," and "Don Quixote."

In 2015, he founded M Ballet Company and presented original ballet works reflecting Korean history and culture. "Ahn Jung-geun, Dance in Heaven," which premiered in 2015, has been consistently performed over the past decade, including last month at the CJ Towol Theater in the Seoul Arts Center, becoming a representative work of M Ballet Company.

He received numerous awards, including the "1986 Asian Games Ministry of Culture Award," the "1988 Seoul Olympics Ministry of Culture and Sports Award," the "30th Anniversary Achievement Award of the National Ballet Company," and the "2018 Korean Ballet Association Grand Prize."

The funeral is being held at Central University Hospital Funeral Hall, Room 2. The funeral will be conducted by Korean ballet professionals and the National Ballet Company.

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