31 May 2026
At age 17, Yeom Da-yeon heads to Boston Ballet as dancer parents offer words of advice
Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea
About
This article is by Yoo Ju-hyun and read by an artificial voice.
At 17, ballerina Yeom Da-yeon is heading to the Boston Ballet as a full company member in late July, bypassing both the apprenticeship phase that typically follows a strong showing at the Prix de Lausanne and the arts-school pipeline that produced most of her peers.
Yeom placed second and won the audience favorite award at the 54th Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland in February. Past Korean winners include Kang Sue-jin, the recently retired Korea National Ballet director, who became the first Korean to receive a Lausanne scholarship in 1985 and joined the Stuttgart Ballet a year later at age 19. Yeom is skipping that one-year gap. Boston has offered her a full company contract at a rate well above the standard rate for a new hire.
She has also never set foot in a specialized arts school. Yeom was homeschooled by her parents, both former ballet dancers. Her father, Yeom Ji-hoon, is a former Royal New Zealand Ballet soloist and former Korea National Ballet master, and her mother, Saori Hara, is a Japanese-born ballerina.
Yeom Ji-hoon and Hara met in New York in the early 2000s. He had moved to the United States to chase larger stages after a stint as a soloist with the Seoul-based Universal Ballet. She had trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and danced with the El Paso Ballet in Texas and the Connecticut Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut, waitressing on the side. Hara had trained as a child in Hokkaido alongside Tetsuya Kumakawa, the former Royal Ballet principal often cited as one of the greatest male dancers Japan has produced.
Yeom Da-yeon has been performing at a professional level for more than a year. She danced the title role in "Giselle" with the Korea Ballet Stars last year at 16, the country's youngest dancer in the role, and has since taken central roles in the M Ballet Company's "Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven" and the contemporary work "Mondrian." The variation she danced at Lausanne, "Esmeralda," is the same one she first performed in the eighth grade, when her parents say her potential began to show.
Before her late-July departure, Yeom has five more performances to finish in Korea, including the "Seongnam Ballet Stars" gala. She is scheduled to make her Boston Ballet debut in a contemporary program in September and join a company tour to Paris in October.
The JoongAng Sunday team sat down with Yeom and her parents at home.
The following interview excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. Were you aiming for the Royal Ballet?
A. Yeom Da-yeon: I had only ever dreamed of the Royal, so going to Boston was unexpected. But the offer was so good, and I thought I could gain more experience there, so I chose Boston.
Yeom Ji-hoon: The right place is the one that values her. I looked at Boston's recent repertoire, and the balance is ideal. They mix work by the hottest choreographers right now with the Ashton pieces Da-yeon has always wanted to dance and the Balanchine works that define American ballet. That's the biggest selling point.
You're going straight from homeschool to working as a professional abroad. How do you feel about that?
Yeom Da-yeon: I've been working with adult dancers on professional stages since last year, so going to a company actually feels more natural than going to school.
Hara: I'm worried, but I left home at 19, too. You only become independent once you leave, and her time has just come a bit earlier. Unlike the kids who go to school dorms, she's a professional, so we need to find her an apartment. Rent is so expensive. I asked the company to help find her a roommate.
What was it like playing 'Giselle' and its mad scene at 16?
Yeom Ji-hoon: Her partner, a Universal Ballet principal, was so busy that they could barely rehearse together. She struggled, standing alone in front of an imaginary partner. I brought in a junior of mine who studied theater to coach the acting for a while.
Yeom Da-yeon: It's a story about love...
At 17, ballerina Yeom Da-yeon is heading to the Boston Ballet as a full company member in late July, bypassing both the apprenticeship phase that typically follows a strong showing at the Prix de Lausanne and the arts-school pipeline that produced most of her peers.
Yeom placed second and won the audience favorite award at the 54th Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland in February. Past Korean winners include Kang Sue-jin, the recently retired Korea National Ballet director, who became the first Korean to receive a Lausanne scholarship in 1985 and joined the Stuttgart Ballet a year later at age 19. Yeom is skipping that one-year gap. Boston has offered her a full company contract at a rate well above the standard rate for a new hire.
She has also never set foot in a specialized arts school. Yeom was homeschooled by her parents, both former ballet dancers. Her father, Yeom Ji-hoon, is a former Royal New Zealand Ballet soloist and former Korea National Ballet master, and her mother, Saori Hara, is a Japanese-born ballerina.
Yeom Ji-hoon and Hara met in New York in the early 2000s. He had moved to the United States to chase larger stages after a stint as a soloist with the Seoul-based Universal Ballet. She had trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and danced with the El Paso Ballet in Texas and the Connecticut Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut, waitressing on the side. Hara had trained as a child in Hokkaido alongside Tetsuya Kumakawa, the former Royal Ballet principal often cited as one of the greatest male dancers Japan has produced.
Yeom Da-yeon has been performing at a professional level for more than a year. She danced the title role in "Giselle" with the Korea Ballet Stars last year at 16, the country's youngest dancer in the role, and has since taken central roles in the M Ballet Company's "Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven" and the contemporary work "Mondrian." The variation she danced at Lausanne, "Esmeralda," is the same one she first performed in the eighth grade, when her parents say her potential began to show.
Before her late-July departure, Yeom has five more performances to finish in Korea, including the "Seongnam Ballet Stars" gala. She is scheduled to make her Boston Ballet debut in a contemporary program in September and join a company tour to Paris in October.
The JoongAng Sunday team sat down with Yeom and her parents at home.
The following interview excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.
Q. Were you aiming for the Royal Ballet?
A. Yeom Da-yeon: I had only ever dreamed of the Royal, so going to Boston was unexpected. But the offer was so good, and I thought I could gain more experience there, so I chose Boston.
Yeom Ji-hoon: The right place is the one that values her. I looked at Boston's recent repertoire, and the balance is ideal. They mix work by the hottest choreographers right now with the Ashton pieces Da-yeon has always wanted to dance and the Balanchine works that define American ballet. That's the biggest selling point.
You're going straight from homeschool to working as a professional abroad. How do you feel about that?
Yeom Da-yeon: I've been working with adult dancers on professional stages since last year, so going to a company actually feels more natural than going to school.
Hara: I'm worried, but I left home at 19, too. You only become independent once you leave, and her time has just come a bit earlier. Unlike the kids who go to school dorms, she's a professional, so we need to find her an apartment. Rent is so expensive. I asked the company to help find her a roommate.
What was it like playing 'Giselle' and its mad scene at 16?
Yeom Ji-hoon: Her partner, a Universal Ballet principal, was so busy that they could barely rehearse together. She struggled, standing alone in front of an imaginary partner. I brought in a junior of mine who studied theater to coach the acting for a while.
Yeom Da-yeon: It's a story about love...