I thought this news might be of interest for some people. The 2nd Don Perignon, a world choreographic competition, will be hosted by the Hamburg Ballet on July 12th. I personally think this competition will be a great opportunity to allow young choreographers (who often don't get the opportunities to have their works seen by major artistic directors of the work and have them show-cased) to really enter the market of choreography making. And we need more choreographers these days than dancers!! This competition looks very very high in standard -- here is the list of the judges for the competition: <P>Reid Anderson, Director, Stuttgart Ballet<BR>Dinna Bjørn, Director, Norwegian National Ballet<BR>Boris Eifman, Director and Choreographer, St.Petersburg Ballet Theater<BR>Carla Fracci, Director, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome<BR>Daniela Kurz, Director and Choreographer, Ballett Nürnberg<BR>Brigitte Lefèvre, Director, Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris <BR>Giorgio Mancini, Director, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève<BR>John Neumeier, Director and Choreographer, The Hamburg Ballet<BR>Makharbek Vasiev, Director, Ballet of The Mariinsky Theater<P>AND here are the finalists:<P>Emanuele Soavi - "Last resort"<BR>Jirí Bubenícek - "Fragile Vessels"<BR>Gustavo Ramirez Sansano - "Weight on my back"<BR>Glaudi Bombardo - "Geste(e)"<BR>Yaroslav Ivanenko - "Morning Prayers"<BR>Jérôme Delbey - "Al Santo Sepolcro YHWH684"<BR>Susanna Leinonen - "Babolat"<BR>Yukich Hattori - "Piece"<BR>Daniel Zaboj - "What keeps Mankind alive!"<P>Jirí Bubenícek , Yaroslav Ivanenko, and Yukichi Hattori are all dancers of the Hamburg Ballet. Jirí Bubenícek is a principal dancer. I don't know much about Ivanenko, but Bubenícek also has a twin brother, Otto Bubenícek, who is also a principal with them!! (Both often partner exSFB principal, Elizabeth Loscavio.) Yukichi Hattori is a rising dancer/choreographer in Japan. In Neumeier's last work, "Nijinsky," Neumeier created the role "Stanislav" (Nijinsky' mentally-ill brother) especially for him.<P>Lastly, what is the prize?<BR>Well, it definitely seems like a FANTASTIC opportunity:<P>* 1st Prize: DM 15.000.-<BR>In addition the ballet will be taken over into the repertory of THE HAMBURG BALLET<BR>and be danced by members of THE HAMBURG BALLET. Their will be no additional fee for the setting of the piece for THE HAMBURG BALLET.<BR>* Honorary "Encouragement Prize" as well as an unendowed "Public's Choice ".<BR>* Live performance of those creations chosen by the pre-selecting Jury (max. eight) on July 12, 2001, at the Hamburg State Opera in connection with the 27th Hamburg Ballet Days.

Terry, do you know where the first competition was held and who won it?

Azlan, the last competition was also held in Hamburg but I'm afraid I don't know who won...Perhaps someone else might? Well, the thing is, the last competition wasn't well-publicized so I guess that explains why we don't have much information on it. <P>But this time around, it looks like it's going be a big event. <p>[This message has been edited by Terry (edited June 20, 2001).]

Here are the winners:<P>The Winners<P>GRAND PRIX Dom Perignon 2001<BR>Gustavo Ramirez Sansano - "Weight on my back"<P>Encouragement Prize<BR>Yukichi Hattori - "Piece"<P>Public's Choice <BR>Yaroslav Ivanenko - "Morning Prayers"<P>*Very glad to hear that Hattori won; he is only 21 and is a rising dancer/choreographer from Japan. Hope the American audience will get to see his works someday.

Many thanks Terry for telling us about this competition.