Hyo-Jung Kang

Hyo-Jung Kang received her first ballet lessons at Sunwha Art Middle School in her hometown of Seoul and attended the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington D.C. from 1998 to 2002. She toured Korea with the Universal Ballet Company. In 2002, she participated in the Prix de Lausanne. In the same year she continued her training at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. This was followed by an engagement at the Stuttgart Ballet, first in 2003/04 as an élève, and from 2004/05 in the corps de ballet. In 2008/09 Hyo-Jung Kang was promoted to demi-soloist, in 2010/11 to soloist. After her role debut as Juliet in John Cranko’s »Romeo and Juliet«, ballet director Reid Anderson appointed her principal dancer in 2011. In the 2021/22 season she joined the Vienna State Ballet as first soloist.

Hyo-Jung Kang has a broad experience in both classical and contemporary repertoire and has inspired creations by numerous renowned choreographers. She has danced John Cranko’s major leading roles such as Tatyana and Olga in »Onegin«, Juliet in »Romeo and Juliet«, Odette/Odile in »Swan Lake« and Catherine in »The Taming of the Shrew«. She has thrilled audiences as Giselle (Coralli, Perrot & Petipa), Sylphide (Peter Schaufuss after Bournonville), Princess Aurora in »The Sleeping Beauty« (Marcia Haydée), Kitri in »Don Quijote« (Maximiliano Guerra), Manon Lescaut in »The Lady of the Camellias« (John Neumeier) as well as the Dying Swan (after Mihkail Fokine) or as soloist in »Siebte Sinfonie« (Uwe Scholz). She has danced other central roles in works by George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Itzik Galili, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Natalia Makarova, Hans van Manen, Roland Petit and Jerome Robbins.

Martin Schläpfer created the leading role for her in his Stuttgart premiere »Taiyō to Tsuki«, Christian Spuck the role of Maria de Medici in »..., la peau blanche, ...«, Kevin O'Day the Travelling Dancer in »Hamlet«. She has also danced in world premieres by Mauro Bigonzetti, Bridget Breiner, Edward Clug, Andreas Heise, Katarzyna Kozielska, Douglas Lee, Christian Spuck, Louis Stiens and Demis Volpi.

Hyo-Jung Kang's Viennese repertoire comprises Tatjana in John Cranko's »Onegin«, Princess Aurora in the world premiere of Martin Schläpfer's »Sleeping Beauty«, the title role in Elena Tchernichovaʼs »Giselle«, the Queen of the Dryads in Rudolf Nureyevʼs »Don Quixote«, Manon Lescaut in John Neumeierʼs »Lady of the Camellias«, George Balanchine's »Symphony in Three Movements«, »Symphony in C« and »Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet«, Jerome Robbins' »Other Dances«, Hans van Manen's »Four Schumann Pieces«, Heinz Spoerli's »Goldberg Variations«, William Forsytheʼs »In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated« and works by Martin Schläpfer such as »Ein Deutsches Requiem«, »Marsch, Walzer, Polka« and »The Seasons«.

In the critics' survey for the yearbook 2022 and 2023 of the magazine tanz, Hyo-Jung Kang received a nomination as »Dancer of the Year«.