Rising Ballet Star Seong Jae-seung Shares the Prince Role in The Little Mermaid
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Seong Jae-seung, a 21-year-old ballet student at Korea National University of Arts (KNUA), has been double-cast as the Prince in ballet The Little Mermaid alongside Mariinsky soloist Jeon Min-cheol. Seong recently won the senior pas de deux at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) and the grand prize in the Young Professional division of the Helsinki International Ballet Competition (HIBC). Praised for his expressive storytelling and strong physical power, Seong says he aims to present a realistic, emotionally rich Prince. Although slightly shorter than ideal for a classical male lead (178 cm), his low body fat and muscular build give him notable strength; he is also ambidextrous, which helps partnering. Seong admires predecessors like Kim Ki-min and choreographers and hopes to expand his repertoire to works such as Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake. The KNUA production of The Little Mermaid, originally staged by Professor Kim Sun-hee and later reworked into a full-length 135-minute ballet with international collaborators, has toured globally; performances in Hwaseong are set for July 11–12.
