The formal announcement of competitors has been made and the RDB representatives will be Yao Wei and Ulrik Birkkjæer. The pair will be performing an exceprt from the "Flower Festival at Genzano" pdd as well as a new piece by Tim Rushton.

More information from the National Ballet of Canada website:
http://www.national.ballet.ca/performan ... erik-bruhn

The Seventh International Competition
for the Erik Bruhn Prize

Karen's comments on the Erik Bruhn Prize

Since its inception in 1988, The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize has featured many of the finest young dancers from The Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada. The competition, named after one of the greatest male dancers of the 20th century, will showcase a total of eight dancers between the ages of 18-26. One male and one female dancer from each company will compete in a programme of classical and contemporary work. As nearly all of the winners have gone on to hold Principal Dancer positions with their companies and to enjoy exceptional international careers, The Erik Bruhn Prize represents a rare opportunity to see the future stars of the ballet world in one glorious evening of dance.

During the judging, The National Ballet of Canada will perform Glen Tetley's Voluntaries. Before the performance, the company will honour Mr. Tetley, one of the leading choreographers of the 20th Century, in a special tribute. Sadly, Mr. Tetley died suddenly on January 26 at the age of 80. He had planned to attend the event.

List of competitors and repertoire:,

The National Ballet of Canada
Bridgett Zehr and Keiichi Hirano: a new commissioned work choreographed by Sabrina Matthews; pas de deux from Le Corsaire.

American Ballet Theatre
Misty Copeland and Jared Matthews: Act III pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty; an excerpt from Jirí Kylián 's Petite Mort.

The Royal Ballet
Yuhui Choe and Fernando Montaño: the Bluebird pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty; the balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet.

The Royal Danish Ballet
Yao Wei and Ulrik Birkkjær: a new work by British choreographer Tim Rushton; pas de deux from Bournonville's Flower Festival in Genzano.

The Erik Bruhn Prize is presented by John and Claudine Bailey.

Past Erik Bruhn Prize winners:
1988 Errol Pickford of the Royal Ballet and
Rose Gad Poulsen of The Royal Danish Ballet;

1989 Stephen Legate of The National Ballet of Canada &
Silja Wendrup-Schandorff of The Royal Danish Ballet;

1993 Johan Kobborg of The Royal Danish Ballet &
Julie Kent of American Ballet Theatre;

1995 Johan Persson of The National Ballet of Canada &
Jaimie Tapper of The National Ballet of Canada;

1999 Jhe Russell of The National Ballet of Canada with
Guennadi Nedviguine of San Francisco Ballet &
Vanessa Zahorian of San Francisco Ballet;

2002 Friedemann Vogel of Stuttgart Ballet &
Michele Wiles of the American Ballet Theatre.

The press release on Ulrik Birkkjær's win:

Korpsdanser Ulrik Birkkjær vinder Erik Bruhn konkurrence i Toronto
Ved den syvende Erik Bruhn Konkurrence i Toronto i denne weekend lykkedes det den kun 21-årige Ulrik Birkkjær at vinde den prestigefulde pris foran konkurrenter fra verdens største og bedste kompagnier. Alle kompagnier havde sendt deres bed-ste dansere, der dog ikke måtte være solodansere.
Ulrik Birkkjær er kun den anden danske mandlige danser, der har vundet konkurrencen, idet Johan Kobborg vandt konkurrencen i 1993. Ulrik Birkkjær optrådte med Bournonvilles Blomsterfesten i Genzano sammen med solist Yao Wei. Deres moderne stykke var et nyt værk af Tim Rushton, Opus, til klavermusik af Valentin Silvestrov.

Balletmester Frank Andersen:
”Det er naturligvis en kæmpe ære at modtage en så prestigefuld internationale pris som Erik Bruhn prisen. Ikke bare fordi det er en pris opkaldt efter en af de største danske balletdansere nogensinde, men også fordi prisen er et massivt rygstød til en ung danser på vej frem. Det var en ganske vidunderlig fornemmelse at se både Ulrik og Yao danse så fantastisk og dog afslappet.
Der var ingen tvivl i vores jury og heller ikke hos publikum om, hvem der skulle vinde. Prisen konsoliderer, at vi stadig kan udvikle de bedste dansere på verdensplan, og at Den Kongelige Ballet er på et meget højt internationalt niveau disse år.”

Den danske danser, Erik Bruhn, der regnes som en af det 20. århundredes største dansere, afsluttede sin karriere som balletmester i Canada, og det er til ære for ham, at denne konkurrence afholdes.
Der uddeles to priser til henholdsvis den bedste kvindelige danser og den bedste mandlige danser. Deltagerne skal være mellem 18 og 26 år, og udover deltagere fra National Ballet of Canada og Den Kongelige Ballet deltager der dansere fra The Royal Ballet og American Ballet Theatre.