Ballerino Lee Won-Guk of Korea National Ballet

Lee Won-Guk, 34, of the Korea National Ballet is called a textbook ballerino of Korea.

No male dancer has enjoyed public popularity in Korea like his. In a rare case as a ballet star, he had his own fan club. When his role in last year¡¯s ¡°Romeo and Juliet¡± was changed, his fans demanded refunds.

But he was a problem student who had to attend high school (Dongmyung High School in Pusan) of three-year course for six years. Such a boy started to learn ballet at the age of 20. Among the 30 would-be dancers at the private ballet school he was attending, he was the sole man.

The world-famed Russian choreographer Yuri Grigarovich, the Dictator of Bolshoi, once chose Lee as the best Korean ballet dancer.

Kim Gab-Sik gskim@donga.com