Kate,

To answer your question a partner that has been eliminated still must go on to perform with their partner who has been advanced...just makes sence It must be very difficult for the eliminated partner to perform knowing he has no chance for any top prizes. I do wonder if being eliminated they can still win scholarships, company spots or special prizes? Perhaps it's more likely for this to happen for the competitor that gets to Round 3?

Anyway Congratulations to all those who have advanced to Round 2!

Here is the roster of Round III competitors announced this morning:

Senior Males: Cervilio Miguel Amador (Cuba), Joseph Gatti (USA), Masayoshi Onuki (Japan), Eddy Tovar (Cuba), Keigo Fukuda (Japan), Davit Karapetyan (Armenia), Alexandr Buber (Belarus), Avetik Karapetyan (Armenia), Viktor Ishchuk (Ukraine), Zherlin Ndudi (Ukraine), Brooklyn Mack (USA), Daniil Simkin (Germany)

Senior Females: Adiarys Almeida Santana (Cuba), Yui Yonezawa (Japan), Janessa Touchet (USA), Jurgita Dronina (Lithuania), Caitlin Valentine (USA), Natalia Domracheva (Russia), Lauren Strongin (USA), Misa Kuranaga (Japan), Marija Kicevska (Macedonia)

Junior Males: Ryo Izawa (Japan), Isaac Hernandez (Mexico), Jeffrey Cirio (USA), Mathias Dingman (USA), Denys Cherevychko (Ukraine)

Junior Females: Francesca Dugarte (Venezuela), Christine Shevchenko (USA), Sae-Eun Park (South Korea), Kayo Sasabe (Japan), April Giangeruso (USA), Elena Kazakova (Russia), Sasha De Sola (USA)

Margaret Mary Henry writes a human interest feature on the IBC in the Christian Science Monitor:

CS Monitor

Sherry Lucas with the breaking news on Round III competitors in the Clarion-Ledger:

Clarion-Ledger

Anita Modak-Truran writes a brief digest on ballet films, including the Ballet Russes film that will be shown at 1:30 and 7:00 p.m. at the Edison Walthall Hotel on an otherwise "dark" afternoon and evening at the IBC:

Clarion-Ledger

Backing up slightly, here is Sherry Lucas' piece on the Tuesday, June 20 luncheon with Claudia Folts of tutu.com:

Clarion-Ledger

Sherry Lucas talks to jurors about the scoring process and the eliminations between Rounds I and II in the Clarion-Ledger:

Clarion-Ledger

Billy Watkins writes about on- and offstage partnerships in the Clarion-Ledger:

Clarion-Ledger

Sherry Lucas previews the Edward Stierle Contemporary Showcase held on Sunday, June 25 at 2:00 p.m. at Belhaven College Center for the Arts:

Clarion-Ledger

Annie Oeth writes about welcoming international dancers to Jackson in the Northeast Ledger:

Northeast Ledger

Sherry Lucas interviews Marija Kicevska, Macedonia's sole competitor, who, parenthetically, has also advanced to Round III:

Clarion-Ledger

Francis can you tell me how Viktor Kabaniov's contempory piece was received? Also are the dancers he coached in round 3?

Great coverage by the way, Thanks!

Although I am no longer in Jackson, I would have to say that Viktor's piece was well received, since both dancers (Cervilia Miguel Amador and Janessa Touchet) have advanced to Round III. (I have requested the complete program information on Round II so that we will know what the competitors performed; the contemporary works are supposed to be modern dance or modern dance-influenced -- *not* contemporary ballet.)

Janessa Touchet and Cervilio Amador did Viktor's Sub Rosa Friday night. Their performance was good and I noted that the some of the peice reminded me of some of the Ben Stevenson stuff that has done well at this IBC in the past. They both made it to the third round.

If one competitor in a pair does not make the cut they continue in the competition as a non competing partner. This happended this year when Melody Herrera had some problems in the first round and became a NCP for the second round with her husband Randy. She danced very well in their modern piece but he was not showcased in that piece and they did not make the finals.

The clear standout in this competition is Daniil Simkin who was outstanding with his modern dance Sunday night. He and the choreography (by his father) were big hits with the crowd. Brooklyn Mack was the other hit with Lacrymosa by the late Edward Stierle (also of IBC fame). The crowd (including myself) also really liked Andres Felipe Figueroa Leon and Diana Catalina Gomez Gonzalez from Columbia but the judges did not like them - they did not make it to round three. The only other dissapointment for me was that the Herrera couple did not make it to the thrid round - although he did not do anything of note in their Sunday night performance so this was not a big surprise.

The other news from Sunday night was Junior Kim Ji A from Korea who ended her piece early when she gracefully curled up on the floor and put her head down then moved her hand to her stomach. There was a painfully long few seconds before they stopped the music and the medical team rushed on stage to help her. She danced well up to that point and there was no fall or other obvious injury. Hopefully Renee will have more info about this. No news yet about what happened - there is no apparent reason for concern but she did not make the finals.

Waiting for the third round to start Tuesday night!