7th Kozlova International Ballet Competition

Boston International Ballet Competition 2012The 7th Annual Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition, rewarding excellence in both classical and modern dance, will take place June 5-10 at Symphony Space in New York City. Semi-finals were held in Posadas, Argentina in September 2016 and at the theater of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 2-4.

 

Competing dancers have the opportunity to win full-year or summer scholarships, money rewards, and coveted company contracts. Judges for the June 2017 event include: Julio Bocca of Argentina, previously a principal dancer with ABT from 1986-2006 and currently the artistic director of the Ballet Nacional Sodre Montevideo/Uruguay; Anderson Santana of Belgium, founder/artistic director of the Brussels International Ballet School; Charles Jude of France, former principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet and current director of the Ballet de l’Opera de Bordeaux; and Nina Ananiashvili of Georgia, renowned prima ballerina with Bolshoi Ballet, ABT, NYCB, Royal Danish Ballet, and more, plus currently artistic director of State Ballet of Georgia.

 

Other prestigious judges include: Nikolai Tsiskaridze (Russia), Jelko Yuresha (United Kingdom), Alberto Pretto (Italy), Patricia Aulestia (Mexico), Olga Guardia de Smoak (Panama), Sergei Soloviev (Russia), Sun Hee Kim (South Korea), Jeon Mi Sook (South Korea), Joe Lanteri (USA), Radenko Pavlovich (USA), Margo Sappington (USA), Peter Stark (USA) and Septime Webre (USA).

 

Andris Liepa of Russia will return as Chairman of these Judges. He’s a People’s Artist of Russia, former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, and former guest artist with NYCB and ABT.

 

VKIBC has also announced the repertory for 2017. It includes pieces from Don Quixote, Coppelia, Giselle, La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, La Fille Mal Gardee, La Sylphide, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Flames of Paris, The Nutcracker and more.

 

For more information on VKIBC, visit www.vkibc.org.

 

Photo: Dancer competing at VKIBC Finals in 2012, then known as the Boston International Ballet Competition (BIBC). Photo by Brian Mengini, courtesy of VKIBC.