#Choreographer Nina Ananiashvili

[suetravelblog]

La Traviata Tbilisi State Opera Georgia

[tikitania]

Hello, Thank you for a great blog and sharing ballet inside and discussion! I wanted to ask if you (or someone else who sees this) can tell what are the other good or valued professional ballet academies / choreographic schools in Russia besides Vaganova, Perm school, Eifman Academy and Moscow choreographic school (though I have heard that the latest is partly hanging on its reputation and the current state of the school is a bit solala..)

Awww, thank you! That means a lot. I rediscovered my love for ballet during COVID and was thrilled to find several Tumblr sites/blogs (@ballet-symphonie, https://melmoth.co) that inspired me to dig deeper into the dancers, choreographers, and companies that I admired. I also started attending more ballet performances, too! As rich as the YouTube / IG ballet world is — the magic is in the theater. It's thrilling! As for ballet in training in Russia beyond the big four, I really don't have the knowledge to ascertain which ones are considered top notch. But what I have done is researched where some of my favorite dancers trained — and the results can be surprising. Tereshkina trained at Krasnoyarsk and did a year or two of finishing at Vaganova. Elena Svinko, the new Mariinsky 1st soloist also came from Krasnoyarsk. Semyon Chudin graduated from the Novosibirsk Choreographic College. Alexandra Khiteeva trained for the first five years in Kazan. Historically, the Kiev Choreographic College has trained amazing dancers including Svetlana Zhakrova, Sergei Polunin, Alina Cojocaru, Leonid Sarafanov, and more. Tragically, I think training has been disrupted due to the war. Here's a video highlighting some of their illustrious grads:

Russia and in the former Soviet republics do not suffer a shortage of ballet schools because there's a seemingly an endless supply of excellent retired dancers and pedagogues to teach! It’s a valued profession there. Nina Ananiashvili has started a school in Tbilisi, Georgia — a school for the company she's leading there. For instance, Maria Alexandrova was just appointed the rector of the Sevastopol Choreographic School -- a very controversial appointment because the city is in Crimea, which is Ukrainian territory that Russia has invaded and claimed, so this appointment feels extremely political. And there are endless private schools that train at a really high level. As an example, I'll leave you with this — Maria Bulanova, aged 10 at the Kuramshin School in St. Petersburg where she trained for several years until she entered Vaganova.

[ballet-symphonie]

Ale, could you explain better the IBC Moscow? The categories etc. I have no idea how it works. So like, there are categories and a winner to each category? People have to be called to participate or they have to sign in for it?... sorry I have no clue. But please, if you could be updating the news on the IBC, like you did for the Olympics, that would be super cool!

Sure! Happy to answer and I'll try to keep you all updated. The roster of dancers participating is super fascinating. Here's some more general information about the competiiton:

Structure:

There are two age categories:

Junoir: 14-18, still in ballet school, not working professionals

Senior (19-27) recent graduates, or working professionals

Inside each age division, there are Solo and Duet categories. Dancers can choose either or both categories but doing both solo and duet is very uncommon. Dancers in a duet are judged individually, and contestants performing in duets can perform with a non-competing partner as well. Mixed-age duets are also allowed.

Participation is granted by a pre-selection screening. Dancers have to submit a biography, proof of education, and various dance videos and photos, etc to be considered. Juniors have to be sent with the permission of their school, and professional dancers are supposed to discuss their participation and get their theater director's approval. Directors often don't like pros doing competitions because there is a higher chance of injury and it can make casting complicated.

However, if a dancer is a Laureate or Prize Winner of an International Federation of Ballet Competition, then they can skip the pre-selection process and be directly accepted as a competitor, provided juniors have permission from their school.

Competition Program:

There are three rounds for each category in each age division. Cuts are made after the conclusion of each round. They can cut one duet partner and keep the other. The eliminated partner will continue to perform "out-of-competition." Round III is referred to as the finals. The composition generally looks something like this.

Soloists:

Round 1:

Classical Variation chosen by the dancer (19th or 20th century)

Classical Variation from the competition's repertoire list

Round 2:

A different Classical Variation chosen by the dancer (19th or 20th century)

A piece of Modern choreography. It can be made specifically for the competition or a piece from a work created after 2010

Round 3:

A different Classical Variation chosen by the dancer (19th or 20th century)

A second variation, 'prefered' to be a variation choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich

Duets:

Round 1:

Classical PDD from the competitions repertoire list

Round 2:

Classical PDD chosen by the dancers (19th or 20th century)

A Modern duet. It can be made specifically for the competition or a piece from a work created after 2000

Round 3

A different Classical PDD chosen by the dancers (19th or 20th century)

A duet from one of Yuri Grigorovich's ballets

The big rule: Each performance can only be shown once. You can't repeat anything, you have to dance new pieces every round. For example, you can't take your solo from round 1's repertoire list and repeat it in the finals.

Prizes and History:

Moscow IBC is one of the most famous and most prestigious competitions and so many stars had breakout moments here. It's traditionally held every 4 years. You're competing for medals, diplomas, prize money but most importantly, exposure. Participating in a competition like this is one of the best ways to get seen and get a job, even if you don't win a medal.

Previous Prize Winners include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Eva Evdokimova, Nina Ananiashvili, Julio Bocca, Vladimir Malakhov, Maria Alexandrova, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Natalia Osipova, and Ivan Vasiliev.

Technically, there are 1st-3rd prizes available for male soloists, female soloists, male duet dancers, and female duet dancers (remember they're judged separately) in Senior and Junior categories. For example, in the most recent 2017 edition of the competition, Ellison's Elizabeth Beyer won 1st place in the girls' Junior soloist category while Berlin Staattsballet's Evelina Godunova won 1st place in the women's soloist Senior category. All medalists receive the title of "Laureate". Additionally, after the 3 medals, diplomas of merit can also be awarded based on the judges' discretion. There are usually 1-3 awarded per category and they come with a small amount of prize money and the title of "Diploma Holder." There are also a wide variety of other special prizes and awards that can be given out.

However, things can get messy because there are often ties and prize money gets split. Continuing to use 2017 as an example, BBA's Elizaveta Kokoreva & Sunhwa's Seonmee Park both were awarded 1st prize in the Junoir Duet Category and shared the prize money. Kokoreva can compete again this year because she'll be in the Senior category.

Sometimes certain prizes aren't awarded if the Jury feels like the dancers aren't up to snuff. For instance, BBA's Denis Zakharov won 1st place in boys Junoir solo but Ballettschule Berlin's Victor Caxieta was only awarded 3rd place and there were no other prizes or diplomas given for that category.

There are often 120-150 dancers competing from all over the world. This year, the talent pool appears smaller, likely due to the Russian invasion. It will be interesting to see if this results in more prizes being awarded or less.

There's also a Grand Prix Award (like an overall winner of all the categories), but this has only been awarded 4 times in history: Nadezhda Pavlova, Irek Mukhamedov, Andrey Batalov, and Denis Matvienko who won most recently in 2005. Even Baryshnikov was not deemed worthy, he received 'only' first place.

There is also a Choreographer's Competition happening concurrently. I can talk about this more separately if people are interested.

Jury:

All of the prizes are decided by a panel of esteemed ballet and dance greats. Jury members have included a lot of past greats but this year's jury will be headed by the legendary Yuri Grigorovich again. The competition is being held with special attention towards his 95th anniversary!

Other members include Svetlana Zakharova, Nikolai Tsiskaridze (rector of VBA), Marina Lenova (rector of BBA), Yuri Fateyev (Ballet Director of MT), Boris Eifman (Director of Eifman Ballet), Valentin Yelizariev (Director of Bolshoi Belarus), Margherita Parrilla (Director of the Accademia Nazionale di Danza) and interestingly enough, Vadim Pisarev (Artistic director of the Donbass Opera (the Donetsk National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after A. Solovyanenko))

[rogergreenawalt]

Top 5 Ballerinas Of All Time * Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) Anna Pavlova was the first world-famous ballerina to tour the world. … * Margot Fonteyn (1919-1989) * Pierina Legnani (1868- 1930) … * Nina Ananiashvili (1963-) * Alicia Markova (1910-2004) Considering this, Who is the best ballet dancer of all time? The 10 greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century * Galina Ulanova (1910-1998) * Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) * Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991) * Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-) * Natalia Makarova (1940-) * Anthony Dowell (1943-) … * Gelsey Kirkland (1952-) … * Sylvie Guillem (1965-) Subsequently Who is the highest paid ballet dancer? Sylvie Guillem – $850,000 + per year Sylvie Guillem is the highest paid female ballet dancer in the world today, at 48 years old. Who is the current prima ballerina? At 55, Italian dancer Alessandra Ferri has enjoyed a ballet career longer than most. The renowned ballerina has performed with the world’s most prestigious companies including the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and La Scala Theatre Ballet, as well as with the best choreographers and dancers in the industry. What is the hardest ballet to dance? Pirouettes. Pirouettes are notoriously one of the most difficult ballet moves and it can take years for a dancer to learn how to properly execute a pirouette. One of the most common and widely known dance moves, however, it requires an insane amount of balance and technique. (at Pasadena, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbtRmzLp-1t/?utm_medium=tumblr

[prixdelausanne]

Jury members 2018

The jury panel of the competition is composed of nine renowned personalities from the dance world. We are delighted to provide the candidates 2018 with a prestigious panel of dance professionals. Their voluntary work is extremely appreciated and ensures the reputation and success of the international competition.

The jury of this edition is made up of the following members:

Mr. Ted Brandsen Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet - President of the jury

Ms. Nina Ananiashvili Artistic Director of State Ballet of Georgia - Vice President of the jury

Ms. Yuriko Kajiya Principal Dancer of Houston Ballet, Prize Winner Prix de Lausanne 2000

Mr. Davit Karapetyan Artistic Director of Pennsylvania Ballet Academy, Prize Winner Prix de Lausanne 1999

Ms. Birgit Keil Director of Academy of Dance, Mannheim

Mr. Oliver Matz Director of Zurich Dance Academy

Ms. Lisa Pavane Director of The Australian Ballet School

Mr. Christopher Stowell Associate Director of The National Ballet of Canada

Mr. Demis Volpi Choreographer and opera Director

“The Prix de Lausanne is one of the most important events for young ballet dancers in the world.

It is unique in its focus on the artistic and technical development for the participants, rather than on the competitive element alone.

I am proud and excited to be part of the 2018 Prix de Lausanne as President of the jury and look forward to discovering the ballet stars of tomorrow.”

Ted Brandsen ©ErwinOlaf