The 11th Moscow International Ballet Competition began several days ago--June 11-20. It only occurs once every four years.

(Posted by Sophia at Dansomanie in French)
http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/v ... php?t=4230

An Article in English
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyl ... dChannel=0

I have a definite fondness for this competition. It is through the reviews of this competition by an internet friend of ours that I first discovered the names of Natalia Osipova, Ekaterina Krysanova, the Matvienkos and others.

I may be somewhat busy the next few weeks, but I will try to relate anything of particular interest if I can.


PS--Here is some more in English that I found using Google

http://www.russianballet.ru/competition/eng/about.htm

http://www.russianballet.ru/competition/eng/rules.htm

http://www.operaandballet.com/?perfoman ... ills=10449

http://www.bolshoimoscow.com/index.html ... rch=search

(these are from a commercial site)

The winners' names have been pretty well covered by several other forums. Some videos are also mentioned. You probably know where to look. I really don't have any original sources of my own at the moment to readily display this information.

Several names, like the ones mentioned at the beginning of this topic, are new to me anyway and we will probably be hearing a lot more about them.

Angelina Vorontsova is one and Anastasia Nikitina is another.

Buddy, Nikitina was not lucky at this competition but Angelina Vorontsova of Moscow is most definitely the most praised lady, senior or junior (she won jr gold).

The Mariinsky's Vladimir Schklyarov DID win a top male prize (Sr solo men gold medal). He, along with Ekaterina Ivannikova and Alexei Timofeev (both winning Honorable Mentions in their categories), were the top winners among the Mariinsky's entries.

It is safe to say that the big 'stars' of this year's Moscow IBC -- the ones who all of us will be remembering in the years ahead -- are Vorontsova and Schklyarov.

Hi Natalia. Thanks very much for your response.

I knew that Anastasia Nikitina did not place highly in the competition, but I believe that other dancers have not shone in certain competitions and have gone on to greatness if they weren't already there. You can probably list a few of them much easier than myself.

I do think that we will be hearing some good reports about Anastasia Nikitina.

Don't forget Yuri Smekalov, former Eifman dancer who just joined the Mariinsky as a soloist this spring, and won the first prize for choreography. Evgenia Obratsova danced "Parting" with him, and Schklyarov danced his "Requiem on Narcisse." He won the prize for these two ballets.

Smekalov has also been a coach to Olympic figure skaters, taught yoga, held photo exhibitions, and worked with Vishneva on the Zolotoi Ocen' project. He's a bright, energetic force in the Russian ballet world and we will hear his name again!

Thanks, Catherine, for telling us about Yuri Smekalov. Could either you or Natalia tell us something about the Mariinsky's Ekaterina Ivannikova, Anastasia Nikitina and Alexei Timofeev. My knowledge and comments about Anastasia Nikitina are based on recent mentions that I've read elsewhere on the internet and some video clips.