In 2005, she won gold at the Dong-A Dance Competition in Korea. In 2006, she won silver, with no gold awarded, in the junior women’s division at the USA International Ballet Competition, her first international competition.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 18, she took first place at the 35th Prix de Lausanne, and her name became known in the international ballet world. From September she was with the ABT Studio Company.
In 2009, she joined the Korean National Ballet, and that October she took the female lead in the original ballet Prince Hodong. In 2010, she won gold in the senior division at the Varna International Ballet Competition.
In 2011, she was offered a place in the Paris Opera Ballet, the first Korean woman dancer to receive one. In 2012, she became a full member. In 2013, she was promoted to coryphée and then to sujet. In 2014, she danced Naila in La Source.
In 2015, she took the lead in Swan Lake. In 2016, her promotion to première danseuse was announced. In 2018, she won best female dancer at the Prix Benois de la Danse.
In 2021, right after the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet, she was named étoile, the first from Asia. In 2022, an Étoile Gala at Lotte Concert Hall was scheduled as her first performance at home. In 2023, she received the Chevalier rank of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
In 2024, she again performed in a gala at the Seoul Arts Center. In 2025, she was invited as a visiting professor at Sejong University, and in July she put the gala program together herself. In 2026, she staged Étoile of Our Time 2026, a performance she planned herself.
Sae Eun Park (born 1989) became known in the international ballet world when she took first place at the Prix de Lausanne on Feb 4, 2007, the year she turned 18. On Jun 10, 2021, the year she turned 32, she was named étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Won gold at a Korean dance competition. The next year she entered her first international competition.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Silver at the Jackson competition · opens in a new tab The date of the award is not in the article; a 2006 article says she won gold the year before.Won silver, with no gold awarded, at the competition in Jackson, in the United States. It was her first international competition, and Yonhap News Agency reported it as effectively first place.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Silver at the Jackson competition · opens in a new tab The competition ran from June 17 to July 2; the date of the award is not in the article.Took first place (the grand prix) at the competition in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was enrolled in the preparatory school of the Korea National University of Arts School of Dance, and reached the finals in second place among 12 finalists.
As a prize for the Lausanne win, she was to spend a year with the second company of American Ballet Theatre (ABT).
Source 04 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Park Sae-eun ahead of ABT · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · People in the news in 2007 · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Offer from the Paris Opera Ballet · opens in a new tab Reported as due to leave for New York on Aug. 30, and a year-end article says she was with the company from September.After her time with the ABT Studio Company, she joined the Korean National Ballet.
Source 06 · Herald Business (Korean) · Lead in Prince Hodong · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Offer from the Paris Opera Ballet · opens in a new tab Only the month, May, is confirmed in news reports.Six months after joining, she took the female lead in an original ballet two and a half hours long.
Source 06 · Herald Business (Korean) · Lead in Prince Hodong · opens in a new tab The performance date is not in the article. The month is based on an article from Oct. 20.While enrolled at the Korea National University of Arts, won gold in the senior women’s division. It meant she had won prizes at all three competitions, in Jackson, Lausanne and Varna.
Source 07 · Munhwa Ilbo (Korean) · Varna competition · opens in a new tabSource 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Offer from the Paris Opera Ballet · opens in a new tab Newsis (2013, 2016) gives the Varna award as 2009, but this follows the article from when the competition closed (Munhwa Ilbo, July 30, 2010) and Yonhap News Agency (2011) in giving 2010.After an audition, she was offered a place as an apprentice-level member. She is the first Korean woman dancer to receive one.
Source 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Offer from the Paris Opera Ballet · opens in a new tabSource 09 · Herald Muse (Korean) · Joins the Paris Opera Ballet · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Named étoile · opens in a new tab Yonhap News Agency gives the audition date as the 4th and Herald Muse as the 5th. The offer reads as the 5th.Named goodwill ambassador of the UN MDGs ASIA campaign of the IDP (International Development Partnership).
Source 10 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Named UN goodwill ambassador · opens in a new tabAfter the apprentice-level period, she became the first Korean ballerina to join formally.
Source 12 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to première danseuse · opens in a new tab Only the month, June, is confirmed in news reports.About six months after joining formally, she was promoted to coryphée, the fourth rank, which leads the corps de ballet.
Source 11 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to sujet · opens in a new tab Only the month, January, is confirmed in news reports.Received the prize the company gives to the young dancer it considers most noteworthy.
Source 11 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to sujet · opens in a new tab Based on the phrase “last month” in the Nov. 10 article.Rose to sujet, the third rank, whose dancers can perform solos, ten months after her promotion to coryphée.
Source 11 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to sujet · opens in a new tab The date of the promotion examination is not in the article; based on the report of Nov. 10.YTN reported that she was the first Asian dancer to take a lead role in a full-length ballet.
Source 12 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to première danseuse · opens in a new tabSource 13 · YTN (Korean) · Promoted to first dancer · opens in a new tab Only the month, December, is confirmed in news reports.Newsis writes that she took the lead in Swan Lake that year.
Source 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Named étoile · opens in a new tab The performance date is not in the article.The Paris Opera Ballet announced her promotion on the 5th (local time) and said she would work as a première danseuse from January the next year. Newsis writes that she is the first person of purely Asian descent to reach it.
Source 12 · Newsis (Korean) · Promoted to première danseuse · opens in a new tabSource 13 · YTN (Korean) · Promoted to first dancer · opens in a new tabReceived it at the ceremony at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. She is the fourth Korean to win.
Source 14 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Prix Benois de la Danse · opens in a new tabAfter the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet, the company’s director named her étoile on stage. She is the first dancer from Asia to be named étoile, 10 years after she joined as an apprentice in 2011 and 5 years after her promotion to première danseuse.
Source 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Named étoile · opens in a new tabA gala with Paris Opera Ballet dancers was scheduled for two days, July 28 and 29. The article says she chose Lotte Concert Hall as the venue for her first performance at home since becoming étoile.
Source 17 · Seoul Culture Today (Korean) · 2022 Étoile Gala · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Étoile Gala 2025 · opens in a new tab The performance date is based on the May 9 preview article.Received the Chevalier rank of the order, in the name of France’s minister of culture.
Source 18 · Newsis (Korean) · French Order of Arts and Letters · opens in a new tab The date of the award is not in the article; it is based on her agency saying on Dec. 2 that it was “recent.”Performed at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater from July 20 to 24.
Source 19 · Newsis (Korean) · Étoile Gala 2024 · opens in a new tab The performance date is based on the schedule in the July 17 press conference article.Sejong University said it had invited her as a visiting professor for the first semester of the 2025 academic year.
Source 21 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Visiting professor at Sejong University · opens in a new tab The date is the day the article appeared.Took charge of the program and casting herself, and performed at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater through Aug. 1.
Source 20 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Étoile Gala 2025 · opens in a new tab Based on the schedule in the July 17 interview article. The same article gives the start as both the 29th and the 30th, so no day is given.Held a performance she planned herself at the Seoul Arts Center. The series began in 2022, and this was its fourth edition.
Source 22 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Étoile of Our Time 2026 · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2005–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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Arts · South Korea
1989 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1989: the year of the event minus 1989, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.03 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.