The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

change every year and it consists of only top ballet personages. Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of lifelong achievement,

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

danseur A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

. The Benois de la Danse earns a cash prize of $1,000,000, as well as exceptional events occurring during the previous year on stages around the world. These include dancing roles of all kinds as well as choreographic accomplishments.

History

The idea for the Benois de la Danse was initiated in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and the founders succeeded in obtaining the patronage of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in the autumn of 1992. Its scheduling at the end of April is meant to coincide with the birthday of the great

Alexandre Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...

(1870–1960) for whom it is named. French sculptor Igor Ustinov designed the statuette of the Benois de la Danse award in 1992. He is the son of the famous actor

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...

, a great-nephew of Alexandre Benois.

Goals of competition

* To give the Benois audience the best performances of the works that have been entered, regardless of whom they were created by. * To bring the best representatives of different dance styles and schools together. * To support veterans of ballet financially, with funds from the gala concerts

Members of the Benois de la Danse jury have included

Alessandra Ferri Alessandra Ferri OMRI (born 6 May 1963) is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before t ...

* Alexander Grant *

Altynai Asylmuratova Altynai Abduakhimkyzy Asylmuratova ( kk, Алтынай Абдуахимқызы Асылмұратова, ''Altynai Abduahimqyzy Asylmūratova''; born 1 January 1961) is a Kazakh-born former ballerina who is artistic director of the ballet co ...

* Claude Bessy *

Brigitte Lefèvre Brigitte Lefèvre (born 15 November 1944) is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. She was director of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1995 to 2014. Early life and education Lefèvre attended the Paris Opera Ballet School from the age of ...

Carla Fracci Carolina "Carla" Fracci (; 20 August 1936 – 27 May 2021) was an Italian ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form ...

Davide Bombana Davide Bombana is an Italian choreographer. He studied ballet at the Ballet School of La Scala and graduated in 1977. His debut that year, with the La Scala Ballet was in the title role of Béjart's ''The Firebird''. He was promoted to so ...

*Frank Anderson *

Galina Ulanova Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (russian: Галина Сергеевна Уланова, ; 21 March 1998) was a Russian ballet dancer. She is frequently cited as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Biography Ulanova was born ...

* Helgi Tomasson *

Irina Kolpakova Irina Aleksandrovna Kolpakova (russian: Ирина Александровна Колпакова; born 22 May 1933)John Neumeier John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and director. He has been the director and chief choreographer of Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Five years later he founded the Hamburg Ballet School, which also inc ...

John Taras John Taras (April 18, 1919 – April 2, 2004) was an American ballet master, repetiteur, and choreographer. Early life and education Born on the Lower East Side of New York City to Ukrainian parents, he was sent at age 16 to study balle ...

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

Laurent Hilaire Laurent Hilaire (born 8 November 1962) is a French ballet dancer. Regarded as one of the greatest dancers to emerge from ballet over the past few decades, he was an ''étoile'' of the Paris Opera Ballet for 22 years. From 2011, he was the associa ...

* Loipa Araújo *

Nadia Nerina Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...

*Patrice Bart *

Peter Schaufuss Peter Schaufuss (born 1949 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish ballet dancer, director and choreographer. Biography He is the son of ballet dancers Frank Schaufuss (1921–1997) and Mona Vangsaae (1920–1983). Schaufuss trained at the Royal Dan ...

Rudi van Dantzig Rudi van Dantzig (4 August 1933 – 19 January 2012) was a Dutch choreographer, company director, and writer. He was a pivotal figure in the rise to world renown of Dutch ballet in the latter half of the twentieth century. Early life and trainin ...

Rudolph Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

Sofia Golovkina Sofia Nikolayevna Golovkina (alternate, Sophia; Russian, Головкина, Софья Николаевна; 13 October 1915 - 17 February 2004) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. A graduate of the Moscow State Acade ...

Yuri Grigorovich Yury Nikolayevich Grigorovich (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Григоро́вич; born 2 January 1927 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographer Yvette Chauviré Yvette Chauviré (; 22 April 1917 – 19 October 2016) was a French prima ballerina and actress. She is often described as France's greatest ballerina, and was the coach of prima ballerinas Sylvie Guillem and Marie-Claude Pietragalla. She was awa ...

* Vladimir Malakhov

Laureates of the prizePrix Benois de la Danse, Laureates
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Composers

*George Kouroupos (1996) *

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

(2012) *

Joby Talbot Joby Talbot (born 25 August 1971) is a British composer. He has written for a wide variety of purposes and an accordingly broad range of styles, including instrumental and vocal concert music, film and television scores, pop arrangements and wo ...

(2015) *Ilya Demutsky (2018)

Designers

Olivier Debré Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter. Biography It was following a visit to Pablo Picasso’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figura ...

(1998) *Jaffar Chalabi (2000) *Jurgen Rose (2002) *Carlos Gallardo (2007) *John Macfarlane (2015) *Ren Dongsheng (2016) *

Kirill Serebrennikov Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Серебренников; born 7 September 1969) is a Russian stage and film director and theatre designer. Since 2012, he has been the artistic director of the Gogol C ...

(2018)

Prix "Benois-Moscow Massine-Positano"

Ana Laguna Ana Laguna (born 1954) is a Spanish-Swedish ballet dancer, court dancer and professor. She has danced throughout the world with such legends as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov earning prizes for her performances from France, Italy, Monaco, ...

(2015) *

Edward Watson Edward Watson may refer to: * Edward Watson (died 1617), MP for Stamford *Edward Watson (dancer) Edward Watson MBE (born 21 May 1976) is a British ballet dancer. He is a principal dancer and coach with the Royal Ballet in London. Early years E ...

(2015) *

Ekaterina Krysanova Ekaterina Valerievna Krysanova (russian: Екатерина Валерьевна Крысанова) is a Russian principal dancer of Bolshoi Ballet. Biography Krysanova was born in Moscow, Russia in 1985. Her mother took her to ballet lessons ...

(2016) *

Maria Kochetkova Maria Olegovna Kochetkova (russian: Мария Олеговна Кочеткова; born 1984) is a Russian ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet between 2007 and 2018, and with the American Ballet Theatre betwe ...

(2018)

For High Artistry in Partnership

Alexandre Riabko Alexandre Riabko ( uk, Олександр Рябко; born 20 February 1978) is a Ukrainian ballet dancer, and a principal dancer of the Hamburg Ballet. Alexandre Riabko was born in Kyiv, and trained at the Kyiv Ballet School under Vladimir Den ...

(2016)

Lifetime achievement

Ballerinas

Danseurs

Choreographers

By categories

Footnotes

External links

Prix Benois de la Danse website

Prix Benois de la Danse website
{{Ballet Ballet awards Ballet competitions Events in Moscow