Hye Min Hwang

Retired Universal Ballet Principal Dancer / 1996 Alumna

Hye Min Hwang was born in South Korea. When she was young, she started learning gymnastics. However, by chance she fell in love with ballet. She received her ballet training at Sun Hwa Arts School, followed further study at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington, DC. Then she moved on to Academy de Danse Classique in Monte-Carlo and completed her studies at the Korea National University of Arts. After she graduated, she began her dancing career in 2002 at Universal Ballet as a Soloist and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2003. Appraisals of her artistry from dance critics include such comments as “charisma that shines brighter on the stage,” and “beautiful body language and unbelievable elegance . . . the only ballerina who can dominate with just one jump.” Even though she is a petite ballerina, she has overcome and endured every challenge that she has faced as a ballerina and established a special place for herself right at the heart of Korean ballet.

Her many awards include the Grand Prize at Dong-A Dance Competition in 1999, 2nd Prize at the Asian Pacific International Ballet Competition in 1999, the Bronze Prize at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2000 and the Silver Medal at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2001. She received the Best New Artist Award from the Korea Ballet Association in 2002 and their Prima Ballerina Award in 2004, followed by the Dancer's Career Development Center's Best Artist Award in 2017.

Hye Min Hwang has danced featured roles in much of the company's repertory, including the leading roles in John Cranko’s Onegin (Tatiana), Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet (Juliet), Shim Chung (Shim Chung), Brian Yoo's The Love of Chunhyang (Chunhyang), Giselle (Giselle), La Bayadere (Nikia, Gamzatti), Swan Lake (Odette, Odile), Sleeping Beauty (Aurora), Don Quixote (Kitri), The Nutcracker (Clara) and many other classical and contemporary roles.

She has appeared as a guest performer at Les Etoiles Du 21st Century Gala in Paris, France in 2002, the Hungarian National Ballet in 2005, the World Ballet Stars Gala in Hungary in 2005, the Stars of World Ballet Festival in Ukraine in 2005, the Romania Sibiu Ballet in 2010, the International Ballet Star Gala in Taipei in 2012, the Indonesian Ballet Gala in 2017 and the Indonesian Dance Society's International Ballet Star Gala in 2017.

In 2012, she married her first love, Universal Ballet’s principal dancer Ohm Jae Yong, after dancing with him in many productions, making them a unique married pair of principal ballet dancers in Korea. After nearly another decade of dancing together, they retired from the stage together in 2017, dancing the leads in Onegin as their last performance.