Julia Moon

Julia H. Moon also known as Hoon Sook Moon (born Hoon Sook Pak, January 1, 1963 ) is the General Director of Universal Ballet in South Korea, and daughter-in-law of Sun Myung Moon, founder of the ballet company. She was the prima ballerina of the company.

Biography

Early life Julia Moon was born in 1963 in Washington, D.C., as Hoon Sook Pak. Her father, Bo Hi Pak, is a senior leader in the Unification Church "At first, I was interested in gymnastics. Then I wanted to dance, but when I realized how much hard work it involved, I wanted to change. But my parents were very encouraging about me continuing with ballet," she said. In a ceremony, she was married to the spirit of Sun Myung Moon's son after his death, and became Moon's daughter-in-law. This was in accordance with Unification Church beliefs that only people who are married may enter into heaven. She had been performing overseas with the Washington Ballet, but was called back to the United States in order to be spiritually married to Heung Jin Nim. The marriage to her husband's spirit is believed to be "permanent and indissoluble".

She explained to The Evening Standard about marrying a deceased groom, "In Korean tradition, I've heard there are other cases of this kind of marriage. In our church, my case is the only one where it's happened this way. But even if this personal situation had not happened, the company would still have got started." Julia Moon commented to Dance Magazine on her relationship with her husband, "When I dance, I'm communicating with my husband. He's not here physically, but he's close in spirit." Located in Washington, D.C., the Universal Ballet Foundation, Inc. operates as a casting office for the Universal Ballet of Korea. Dellas had previously served as a dance instructor for Julia Moon. To promote the performance, Sun Myung Moon took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times. Vinogradov was appointed to the role in 1998.

In 1990, the founder of the Washington Ballet Mary Day commented to The New York Times about Julia Moon, "She's a lovely, lovely girl, and a lovely dancer and person. We were sorry to lose her when she went back to Korea to start the company." As of 1990 the Universal Ballet company had yet to perform in the United States, but had hired guest performers from the U.S. at significant cost.

In a 1993 interview with Tulsa World, Julia Moon said of the art of ballet, "It's really a universal language." She spoke of Korean dancers versus other styles, "I think I would say that Korean dancers - those born and raised there - are very lyrical in their movements, more so than Japanese or Chinese or American dancers," she said. "It's probably something related to Korean folk dancing, which uses a very soft line and is very lyrical."

The Universal Ballet company's first tour in the United States was in 1998. Julia Moon said that the company is separate from Sun Myung Moon, and that only herself and one other member are also members of the Unification Church. She said the company does not perform modern ballet styles, due to her view that the "classical form is the most beautiful form and therefore that's where our background is". Julia Moon commented to The Press-Enterprise on the selection of Shim Chung as the performance piece, "We thought that this would be a good ballet to bring with us on this tour. We are very proud of it and we think that it is a very beautiful ballet. But beyond that I believe it demonstrates in the most convincing way possible that classical ballet and Korean literary and dance traditions can come together to create a new dance form, a blend in which each of the parts has its place." In 2002, Julia Moon retired from her position as the star of the Universal Ballet company.

In 2004, the Universal Ballet company performed La Bayadère at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Korea. In 2004, Bo Hi Pak was the chairman of the board of directors of the Universal Ballet company.

In 2011, she received the Kyung-Ahm Prize.