School of Dance Alumna Lee Yeeun Promoted to Coryphée at the Paris Opera Ballet

Ballet dancer Lee Yeeun, an alumna of the Department of Dance Performance at the School of Dance, has been promoted to coryphée at the Paris Opera Ballet.

Having joined the company just last year as a quadrille, Lee earned the coryphée position through the company’s annual internal promotion competition. As a coryphée, Lee will take on leading responsibilities within the corps de ballet.

The Paris Opera Ballet holds its internal promotion concours annually, a highly competitive event among elite dancers that draws significant attention within the company. Lee joined via entrance audition in 2024 after graduating early from the School of Dance. Before that, she completed her studies at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts (KNIGA). Unlike many Paris Opera Ballet members trained at affiliated institutions, she represents a rare case.

The company’s hierarchy progresses as follows: corps de ballet (including quadrille), coryphée, sujet, premier danseur, and étoile. New hires typically undergo a stagiaire, or trainee, period before official appointment, a system that rigorously assesses artistic potential while upholding tradition.

Currently, about six Korean dancers are active at the Paris Opera Ballet, including Park Seeun – the first Korean ballerina to reach étoile – and Kang Hohyun, a premier danseur.