I was surprised to read (Ballet.co.uk site), a posting responded to by various people, which questioned the relevance of the Adeline Gene and the Young British Dancer of the Year awards and the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars.<P>Comments such as 'not representative', 'incestuous judges', 'all friends of Director' and awarded scholarships because they were 'all known because of which college or school they attend' were an eye opener! Sour grapes can account for some comments, but these comments were not from one source only. <P>What was rather discouraging was the latest comment 'twas ever thus - and not just in dance'. If we are just to accept that this is the way things are, can I please have a list of which events/summer schools are not worth attending! It costs money to enter these competitions and attend these seminars, as a parent I am more than interested in further comments and opinions.

Here's the topic on ballet.co that Caroline mentioned. <BR> <A HREF="http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1626.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1626.html</A> <P>This is out of the scope of my knowledge I'm afraid. But I would take the allegations with a pinch of salt. It may be that those who are commentating adversely have more serious conflicts of interest regarding the lack of success of their children, than the Judges. <P>I think it unlikely that anyone will be able to provide 'a list of which events/summer schools are not worth attending!' Unless that is they wish to spend a lot of time in the libel courts. <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited May 23, 2001).]

I would say that the list of competitions not worth attending is a simple one: <I>all</I> of them.<P>Competitions and contests are fine for hockey players; they are somewhat less useful for artists.

While I agree in principle that competitions are for sports rather than arts, a couple do come to mind:<P>The Tchaikovsky piano competition. (The one Van Cliburn won)<P>Varna competition for ballet.<P><BR>Also included might be the ballet competition (it's early morning here and I am drawing a blank in the name) in which the prizes are scholarships to major prestigious schools.

Good morning Basheva. Do you mean the Prix de Lausanne? I think Alina Cojocaru the latest of the Royal Ballet's principals first came to the Royal Ballet School on a Prix de Lausanne scholarship.

So where does that leave the two mentioned above?<BR> <BR>And what about the serious accusations made?<P>Why are you both of the opinion that competitions are not for ballet dancers (with a few 'high level' exceptions)?<P>PS Just really interested that's all!<BR>

Competitions promote a certain "performing just the tricks" attitude in dance that stunts the artistic growth of the dancer. Often they are done purely for the prestige of the school or teacher with little regard to the health and welfare of the dancer.<P>I agree with the three exceptions above for these reasons. They are the highest level competitions in their fields. The judges are all the highest level professionals in their fields. To win you have to have artistic integrity and flawless technique to win. These are internationally recognized competitions which can help you get work visas in this country.

Has anybody heard of the 'Eurovision Young Dancer 2001' to be televised on BBC?

There's been a lot of criticisms for competitions, but it's just something that some dancers feel as if they must go through to enter companies or get promoted w/in companies. If you look at all the famous principals of the world today: Sylvie Guillem, Nina Ananiashvili, Angel Corella, Jose Carreno, Vladimir Malakhov, Tamara Rojo, Darcey Bussell, Diana Vishneva, Bernice Coppetiers, etc, etc!!! ...in fact, have a look at the profiles of ALL the principals of major companies of the world (except for NYCB)...you will see that almost all of them has entered ballet competitions and won prestigious medals. It's becoming a trend, and whether or not people like it, the fact that these famous dancers have won these competitions will keep the trend going for the future. Competitions don't produce dancers but it certainly helps dancers to build their careers in this competitive dance world. It's the same in any other industry. Why do SOME people go to Harvard or Yale? Besides the fact that these are great institutions, it helps them build their carriers. <P>Caroline -- to answer your question on the Eurovision contest, I think it'll be held in June in London and will also be televised on BBC. There was some information on it on the <BR>ballet.co.uk website:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1720.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1720.html</A> <p>[This message has been edited by Terry (edited June 03, 2001).]