World-renowned dance companies to bring breathtaking performances to Korea this summer

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Some of the world’s most acclaimed dance companies and choreographers are arriving in Korea this summer with a lineup of productions that includes radical reinterpretations of ballet classics and award-winning contemporary works.

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, also known as the Monte-Carlo Ballet, staged its signature production "LAC," performing at Hwaseong Arts Center in Gyeonggi on May 13. It was also set to perform the show at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 16 and 17, and at the Daejeon Arts Center on May 20. 

The work is the Korean premiere of a production first staged in 2011 by the company's artistic director Jean-Christophe Maillot, widely regarded as one of the world's foremost ballet choreographers. 

Maillot stripped away the fairy-tale fantasy of Tchaikovsky’s 1877 classic “Swan Lake,” renaming it simply “LAC” — French for “lake.”

Korean principal dancer An Jae-yong, the first Korean to join the company when he was admitted in 2016, described the work as "a ballet drama, or a ballet film, that uses the relationships and emotions between characters as metaphor, rather than the fixed ideas that ‘Swan Lake’ tends to conjure."

Princess Caroline of Monaco, who founded the company in 1985 in honor of her mother, actress and princess Grace Kelly, has reportedly traveled to Korea to oversee the run.

Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite's "Assembly Hall" is slated to run from June 5 to 7 at LG Arts Center in Gangseo District, western Seoul. Dubbed a "dance genius of the 21st century" by the British outlet Guardian, Pite is known for work that probes the tension between the collective and the individual. 

"Assembly Hall," which won an Olivier Award in 2025 for Outstanding Achievement in Dance — the highest honor in British performing arts — is set in a community hall and explores conflict, fracture and the threat of dissolution within a group. Pite developed the piece in collaboration with Canadian playwright and actor Jonathan Young, weaving theater and dance together. 

Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" follows at LG Arts Center Seoul from June 11 to 14. Ekman, who staged "Hammer" in Korea last year, is known for a distinctive stage aesthetic that blends wit and imagination. His take on the Shakespeare classic draws on a distinctly Nordic atmosphere of mystery and surrealism to explore human desire and fantasy. The production is performed by Ballet Dortmund, founded in 1904, and marks the company's Korean debut. Korean guest dancer Jung Ji-han will also appear on stage.

The wave is already well underway. Wayne McGregor's "Infra" and Glen Tetley's "The Rite of Spring" — performed as a double bill — had their Korean premieres from May 8 to 10.

Though dance remains a niche genre in Korea's performing arts market compared to musicals, tickets for top productions are going fast. More than 95 percent of seats for "LAC" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" have already been sold.

Critics say the surge in high-profile visits reflects Korea's growing stature as a performing arts destination. 

"The global spread of K-culture through K-pop, film, and drama has translated into broader interest in Korean performing arts, including dance," said dance critic Shim Jeong-min. "On top of that, the growing fandom around Korean dancers performing on the world stage has made Korea an increasingly frequent stop for leading arts organizations."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY HA NAM-HYUN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]