Three Korean dancers each won first place in their respective categories at the prestigious Moscow International Ballet Competition, becoming the first Koreans to top their divisions. The winners are Kim Min-jin (20), Lee Kang-won (21), and Park Keun-byeol-bit (16).
According to the official website of the 15th Moscow International Ballet Competition on Thursday, Kim Min-jin won gold (first place) in the women's senior duet category (ages 19-27) and Lee Kang-won won gold (first place) in the men's senior duet category at the final round held at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday.
The duet category is judged by scoring each dancer individually in works performed as male-female duets. Park Keun-byeol-bit took gold (first place) in the men's junior solo category (ages 14-18). They became the first Koreans to win in their respective categories. In the women's junior duet category, Park Sun-mi received a first-place award in 2017. Kim Ki-min, a principal dancer at Russia's Mariinsky Ballet, received a silver award with no gold awarded in the junior category at the 2009 Moscow competition, and at the previous competition held in 2022, Kim Yu-jin placed third in the women's senior solo category.
Kim Min-jin, a student at the Korea National University of Arts, won first place in the senior pas de deux at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in May. Lee Kang-won, who attends the same school, received a silver award at the Jackson International Ballet Competition in 2023 during his junior years. Park Keun-byeol-bit, a student at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, won gold in the YAGP junior men's category last year.
Founded in 1969, the Moscow Ballet Competition is held once every four years and is also known as the "Olympics of Ballet." It ranks among the world's most prestigious competitions alongside the Jackson Competition in the United States, the Varna Competition in Bulgaria, and the Lausanne Competition in Switzerland.
