"The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1991. It takes place each year on or around April 29 and is jury-based in its judging. The members of this jury change every year and consists of only top ballet personages.

"Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of life-long achievement, ballerina, danseur, choreographer, composer and designer.

"The Benois de la Danse recognizes with monetary awards exceptional events occurring during the previous year on stages around the world. These include dancing roles of all kinds as well as choreographic accomplishments."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_Benois_de_la_Danse

http://www.bolshoimoscow.com/classical_ ... ills=16091

Ashley Bouder (NYCB), for one, will be flying in for a guest appearance at the Gala. This will be her third trip to Russia in two months. She will also be stopping in for a benefit performance for relief to Japan in Paris, May 31. She's indefatigable -- on stage and off ! She actually will be performing in Saint Petersburg May 24 and 25, New York City, May 27, and Paris, May 31. Good Heavens, Ashley ! (alias Super Woman) !

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ashley-Bo ... 4626040602


[An extra sentence added about Ashley Bouder]

The Nominees --

for what I have seen referred to on the internet (by Cygne?) as the


"Oscars of Ballet."


Two of the nominees that I have enjoyed seeing very much are Ekaterina Kondaurova and Rolando Sarabia.


LIST OF THE BENOIS-2011 NOMINEES.

CHOREOGRAPHERS

CIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI/DAMIEN JALET — BABEL, Divers music, Eastman (Belgium).

JORMA ELO — A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, F. Mendelssohn, Vienna State Ballet; SLICE TO SHARP (new version), H. Biber, A. Vivaldi, Stanislavsky Ballet Company (Moscow, Russia).

CRYSTAL PITE — PLOT POINT, B. Hermanns, Netherlands Dance Theatre.

ZHANG ZHENXIN — CLOSE YOUR EYES WHEN IT'S GETTING DARK, R. Ikeda, E. Serra, D. -E. Edwards, National Ballet of China.

BALLERINAS

BERNICE COPPIETERS — The title role in Scheherazade, N. Rimsky-Korsakov/J. -Ch. Maillot, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.

LORENA FEIJOO — Kitri in Don Quixote. L. Minkus/M. Petipa, A. Gorsky (version of Jorge Texeira), Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami (USA).

EKATERINA KONDAUROVA — The title role in Anna Karenina, R. Schedrine/A. Ratmansky, Mariinsky Theatre.

ALEXANDRA LIASHENKO — The title role in Cinderella, S. Prokofiev/F. Ashton, Polish National Ballet.

MARIA YAKOVLEVA — Principal party in Rubies, I. Stravinsky/G. Balanchine, Vienna State Ballet.

ZHU YAN — the grown up girl in Outrenoire, J. Cage/J. Bubeniček, National Ballet of China.

DANCERS

VINCENT CHAILLET — O Zlozoni/O Composite, L. Anderson/T. Brown, Opera National de Paris.

DENIS CHEREVICHKO — The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, F. Shubert/W. Forsythe, Vienna State Ballet.

SEMION CHUDIN — Feb in Esmeralda, C. Pungi, R. Glière, S. Vasilenko/V. Burmeister; Slice to Sharp, H. Biber, A. Vivaldi/J. Elo; La Petite Morte, V. A. Mozart/J. Kilian, Stanislavsky Ballet Company (Moscow, Russia)

HAO BIN — the grown up boy in Outrenoire, J. Cage/J. Bubeniček, National Ballet of China.

FERNANDO ROMERO — Dante in Paseo por el Amor y la Muerte, J. Cage, T. Takemitsu, Y. Matsudaira, collage of cantaores clasicos antiguos/F. Romero, Theatre Lope de Vega (Sevilla, Spain).

ROLANDO SARABIA — Basilio, Don Quixote, L. Minkus/M. Petipa, A. Gorsky (version of Jorge Texeira), Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami (USA).

CÉDRIC YGNACE — Basilio, Don Quichot, L. Minkus/ M. Petipa, A. Gorsky (version of A. Ratmansky), Het National Ballet (Netherlands).

http://benois.theatre.ru/english/massmedia/news/

http://benois.theatre.ru/english/

Winners

Choreographer
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jale from Belgium for the production of "Babel"
Jorma Elo from Finland for "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Slice to Sharp”.

Ballerina
Bernice Coppieters -- Monte Carlo
Zhu Yan -- China

Male Dancer  
Rolando Sarabia -- Cuba
Semyon Chudin -- Russia

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/25/50770076.html

Bravo, Rolando !
Bravi, Everyone !

Nastassia Astrasheuskaya reviews the Benois de la Dance for Reuters.

Reuters