![\"Ballerina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/sut-l-dance-jaeger2.jpg\")
Ballerina Sona Jaeger center, in a previous production of The Rosin Box Project\u2019s immersive \u201cGhost Light Masquerade.\u201d The 2026 production opens tonight at Nocturne Theatre. (The Rosin Box Project)<\/p>\nCitizenship and career choices can define and even overtake one\u2019s sense of identity. Yet a job and a birthplace merely represent thumbnail images in the big picture of life.<\/p>\n
Take ballerina Sona\u00a0Jaeger, for instance, who has navigated the pros and cons of a successful dance career, along with a heritage few understand.<\/p>\n
She performs her final shows with The Rosin Box Project\u2019s \u201cGhost Light Masquerade\u201d this month, and before she retires her toe shoes, she revealed her transformative journey.<\/p>\n
Ballerina Sona Jaeger center, in a previous production of The Rosin Box Project\u2019s immersive \u201cGhost Light Masquerade.\u201d The 2026 production opens tonight at Nocturne Theatre. (The Rosin Box Project)<\/p>\n
Jaeger\u00a0has been performing for multiple San Diego dance organizations since she arrived in San Diego 15 years ago.<\/p>\n
She is typically front and center, a standout with exceptional grace and technique that only comes from years of physical discipline.<\/p>\n
At last month\u2019s well-attended \u201cRevel\u201d concert, staged by Ballet Collective San Diego, her performance in the world premiere of Nilas Martins\u2019 \u201cShades of Corelli\u201d was met with enthusiastic applause.<\/p>\n
Her body interpreted the music like an additional instrument, with graceful hands, long, straight leg extensions and fluid arm movements.<\/p>\n
Besides performing with Ballet Collective, Jaeger has danced with City Ballet of San Diego, Golden State Ballet and, for the past six years, The Rosin Box Project.<\/p>\n
![\"Ballerina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/sut-l-dance-jaeger1.jpg\")
Ballerina Sona Jaeger has been dancing with The Rosin Box Project for the past six years. \u201cGhost Light Masquerade\u201d will be her final dance performances before she retires. (Carly Topazio)<\/p>\n
The ballet community knows\u00a0Jaeger\u00a0as a Japanese dancer because she was born in Japan.<\/p>\n
But her ethnicity, going back three generations, is Zainichi Korean, namely, Koreans and their descendants who migrated to Japan during 35 years (1910-1945) of Japanese colonial rule.<\/p>\n
Actually,\u00a0Jaeger\u00a0has never even visited Korea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was born and raised completely within Japanese culture and society, so in terms of my lived experience and how I see myself, I feel completely Japanese,\u201d explains\u00a0Jaeger, who lives in Mission Valley with her husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because of my background, I couldn\u2019t simply be recognized as Japanese, and that gap was something I struggled with for a long time. Eventually, I chose to stop defining myself by nationality and instead, I focus on who I want to be as a person. That gave me a sense of freedom, and it\u2019s something I also learned through my career in ballet \u2014 choosing for myself who I want to be, rather than letting others define me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cZainichi\u201d (Japanese for \u201cstaying in Japan\u201d) Koreans have a complicated history, a past that has had significant impact on\u00a0Jaeger\u2019s family, going back to her great-grandfather\u2019s migration.<\/p>\n
In 1910, the Japan-Korean Treaty ceded all Korean sovereignty to Japan, beginning 35 years of colonial rule. Under a military government, Korean culture and language was suppressed and the economy was reorganized to benefit Japanese interests.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Korean citizens lost their land and migrated to Japan to take advantage of labor shortages in mining and construction.<\/p>\n
During World War II, ethnic Koreans were forced into supporting the Japanese military.<\/p>\n
When the war ended, due to additional treaties, the division between North and South Korea and few good options, the Zainichi Koreans continued to experience decades of discrimination in education, employment and housing.<\/p>\n
In 1965, Japan established diplomatic relations with South Korea through the Normalization Treaty, which provided incentives for Koreans in Japan to seek South Korean citizenship, including a South Korean passport and access to Japanese medical and welfare benefits.<\/p>\n
Zainichi Koreans today have Special Permanent Resident (SPR) status and pay taxes, but they have no voting rights or a legal claim to Japanese nationality.<\/p>\n
For many Zainichi Koreans, it\u2019s a past that produces a fragmented identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cJapan was my home, but legally, I was not Japanese,\u201d Jaeger says. \u201cI was 17 when I first acquired South Korean citizenship and a passport so that I could leave Japan for Monaco to continue my ballet training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaeger\u00a0first started training at the age of six, and her whole world, including intense classical instruction and performances in four countries, was structured around ballet. When she traveled to San Diego to attend a City Ballet of San Diego intensive class, she was offered a contract and stayed.<\/p>\n
Leaving her ballet career gives\u00a0Jaeger\u00a0a sense of pride \u2013 and a gift.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud that ballet taught me one of the most important things in my life \u2013 how I want to be as a person,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, I\u2019ve reached a point where I can no longer maintain the mental and physical balance that ballet requires from me. Ballet is an incredibly important part of who I am, and it always will be. But my priorities in life have shifted, and I think that is a very beautiful thing about life.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, Jaeger is looking forward to her final appearances in the \u201cGhost Light Masquerade\u201d production this week.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a popular show staged annually by The Rosin Box Project, and it\u2019s unusual in that the space has a haunted vibe, and both the dancers and the audience wear masks and interact with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it so much,\u201d Jaeger says. \u201cIt\u2019s like creating the performance together with the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he final dance shows, Jaeger will offer private Pilates instruction through her Instagram account (@sonananana612<\/a>).<\/p>\n As someone with a deep understanding of the mind-body connection, she asserts that regardless of age and gender, we have unlimited potential.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to contribute to people\u2019s futures,\u201d she says. \u201cI believe that expanding your physical range can expand your mental range. Ultimately, I want to help people expand their possibilities in life.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rosin Box Project presents \u2018Ghost Light Masquerade\u2019<\/p>\n When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25, 28, 29 and 30<\/p>\n Where: The Nocturne Theatre, 3246 Imperial Ave, San Diego.<\/p>\n Tickets: $71.21, group discounts available (youths under 15 must be accompanied by a ticketed parent or legal guardian)<\/p>\n Phone: 619-259-0184<\/p>\n Online:\u00a0therosinboxproject.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t