The Universal Ballet was founded in Seoul, South Korea in 1984. One of only five professional ballet companies in South Korea, the company performs a repertory that includes many full length classical story ballets, together with shorter contemporary works and original full-length Korean ballets created especially for the company. The company is supported by followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, with Moon's daughter-in-law Julia H. Moon, who was the company's prima ballerina until 2001, now serving as General Director. [1] [2] [3] [4]
According to the New York Times the Universal Ballet is considered to be one of Asia's leading ballet companies. [5]
Sun Myung Moon was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification movement, and of its widely noted "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle. He was an anti-communist and an advocate for Korean reunification, for which he was recognized by the governments of both North and South Korea. Businesses he promoted included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary The Washington Times, and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as other related organizations.
Twyla Tharp is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.
Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement whose members are called Unificationists, or more widely known as "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea, by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012).
The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, and Sydney Leonard, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy (1980–1984), Bruce Marks (1985–1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997–2000). Current Artistic Director, Mikko Nissinen, was selected to lead Boston Ballet in September 2001.
Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) is a ballet company in Portland, Oregon, United States. The company performs an annual five-program season at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and conducts regional and national tours. It was featured in the October/November 2007 issue of Pointe magazine, with principal dancer Kathi Martuza on the cover.
The Kirov Academy of Ballet is a ballet school in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1989. It is scheduled to close in May 2022 due to financial issues.
The Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea is a dance troupe founded in 1962 by Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church, to project a positive image of South Korea to the world. In 1973 they performed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The group’s dances are based on Korean legends and regional dances, and its costumes on traditional Korean styles. Choral singing by the troupe in many languages is also featured.
Christopher Peter Wheeldon OBE is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet.
Julia H. Moon also known as Hoon Sook Moon is the General Director of Universal Ballet in South Korea, and daughter-in-law of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the ballet company. She was the prima ballerina of the company.
Sunhwa Arts School is a private coeducational college preparatory arts academy located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded as the Little Angels Art School in 1973 by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the Sunhwa Arts School was launched in 1974 and has been supported by the Sunhwa Educational Foundation since 1977, when this foundation was created by Reverend Moon.
Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director.
The New Jersey Ballet is a ballet company based in Livingston, New Jersey in the United States, founded in 1958 by native New Jerseyan Carolyn Clark and her fellow dancer, George Tomal.
Ballet Manila is a classical ballet institution and dance company in the Philippines. It currently highlights more than fifty highly trained dancers in the highly rigorous Russian (Vaganova) method of classical ballet. Locally the company has performed in 47 cities holding more than 4,100 performances. The company has done tours in Asia, Europe and North America, where it has held more than 140 performances. The company is most notable for its in-house creative director, principal dancer and prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. Along with Ballet Philippines and the Philippine Ballet Theatre, Ballet Manila is one of the three major ballet companies in the Philippines. It regularly held its performances at the Aliw theater and Star Theater which were damaged by a fire in 2019, which are both located within Star City at Pasay. The concept of a ballet company by the dancers, of the dancers and for the dancers was the idea of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde when she, along with ballet master Osias Barroso and ten other dancers established Ballet Manila in 1995.
Young Soon Hue is a contemporary ballet choreographer. She was born in South Korea and trained in South Korea and France. She began her professional career at Frankfurt Ballet, Germany, under the direction of William Forsythe and continued in Switzerland with Ballet Zürich and as soloist at Basel Ballet. She concluded her active dance career as a principal at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and continues as instructor in their school. She got engaged in 1990 and married in 1991.
Daniela Malusardi is an Italian choreographer, teacher and dancer.
Hee Seo is a South Korean ballet dancer who is a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. She became the company's first Korean ballerina to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history. She is also one of the youngest dancers in ABT history to be promoted to principal at the age of twenty-six. The New York Times has described her style and dancing to "exude an unhurried purity that sums up all that is lovely about ballet" and by Vogue as "unspeakably lissome". Several critics have noted her style as "lyrical and open" and she has been critically acclaimed for her "humility" and "unique feminine strength".
The Tokyo Ballet is a classical ballet company, based in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1964. Since its foundation, The Tokyo Ballet has developed a wide range of repertoire from classical full-length ballets to masterpieces of contemporary choreographers.
Aesha Ash is an American ballet dancer and teacher. She danced numerous leading roles as a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet and as a soloist with Béjart Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. Following her retirement from performing, she founded The Swan Dreams Project in 2011 to dispel stereotypes about Black women in ballet. In 2020, she became the first African American female faculty member at the School of American Ballet.