American Ballet Theatre dancer SunMi Park has been promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer, effective September 1, 2026. The promotion was announced by ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe on stage at the Metropolitan Opera House following the evening performance of Swan Lake on July 15, in which Park performed the lead role of Odette/Odile.
SunMi Park was born in Seongnam, South Korea and began studying ballet at age ten. She trained at Sun-hwa Middle and High School of the Arts from 2012 to 2016 and at Korea National Institute of Gifted Arts from 2014 to 2016, building the rigorous classical foundation that would carry her to the world stage. In 2017, she was awarded First Prize at Moscow International Ballet Tournament, followed by a gold medal at the Youth America Grand Prix in 2018. She graduated from Korea National University of Arts in August 2019 and joined ABT Studio Company that same month.
Park became an apprentice with the main Company in November 2021 and joined the corps de ballet in February 2022. She was promoted to Soloist in September 2022, just seven months later.
Park’s repertoire reveals a dancer of exceptional versatility. She has danced Myrta, the peasant pas de deux, and Moyna in Giselle, Tita in Like Water for Chocolate, Grand Pas Classique, the pas de deux from Great Galloping Gottschalk, and leading roles in Bach Partita, Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, Night Falls, and Sextet. She has danced Clara, the Princess in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Natalia in On the Dnipro, and Rezia and “Becomings” in Woolf Works, among many others. Park created the role of Sonya in Crime and Punishment, leading roles in La Boutique and Children’s Songs Dance, and a featured role in Wrecka Stow.
“SunMi is an artist of real depth,” said Susan Jaffe. “She commands the stage in a way that is completely her own, and brings a quiet power to everything she dances. She has consistently risen to meet every challenge we have put before her. The speed of her growth has been remarkable, and we are so proud to recognize that with this promotion.”
Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, American Ballet Theatre’s mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend the great repertoire of classical dancing for the widest possible audience. Headquartered in New York City, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to extensively tour, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 cities worldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes full-length classics from the nineteenth century, the finest works from the early twentieth century, and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces.
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