Ballet saves singer after devastating injury ends career

“I just danced. Perhaps because I`ve been doing ballet since I was a little girl, it helped me rehabilitate my injury. My waist still hurts but I just get on stage with a pain-killing band on it.”

Stephanie Kim, 24, a member of the Korean girl group CSJH the Grace, sounded cheerful over the phone. Having been forced to end her singing career in late 2008 due to a waist injury, she has returned to Korea as a ballerina to perform with famous Korean dancers overseas to be held in Seoul, Ulsan, Pohang, Uljin and Yeongyang.

“I just collapse onto my bed when I come home,” she said. “But I forget all the pain on the stage because I love dancing so much.”

Starting ballet at age 5, Kim was a promising dancer who was offered a chance to join the Boston Ballet II at age 15 when the normal age range to join was 16 to 21. Around that time, however, she chose to join the Korea management agency SM Entertainment to become a singer.

But five years later while preparing for a concert tour in Japan after releasing her group`s second album, she suffered a sudden injury.

“I was a member who did a lot of dance performances, wearing high heels, and dancing. When I woke up one morning, I couldn`t move because of too much pain in my waist,” she said.

The group eventually had to do the Japan tour without her. In early 2009, Kim went back to her family in San Diego, the U.S., with a condition so serious, she could not even leave her house for a while.

“Frustrating” she said repeatedly as she recalled those days.

Ballet, which she had forgotten for a long time, saved her. Getting acupuncture and rehabilitation treatments, she earned a license to teach the Cecchetti method of ballet training.

She initially taught children and gave demonstrations but her desire to get on stage overcame the aftermath of her injury.

Enrolling at the dance department of Korea National University of Arts last year, she joined the Los Angeles Ballet Company the same year and serves as a soloist, playing the role of the Arabian doll in the "Nutcracker."

iamsam@donga.com