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 impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England du ...
change every year and it consists of only top ballet personages.
Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of
lifelong achievement,
ballerina,
danseur,
choreographer,
composer and
designer.
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. I ...
in the autumn of 1992. Its scheduling at the end of April is meant to coincide with the birthday of the great
Alexandre Benois (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, 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, befo ...
*
Alexander Grant Alexander Grant may refer to:
The arts
* Alex da Kid (Alexander Grant, born 1982), English hip-hop producer
* Alex Grant (musician) (born 1974), bass guitarist for Idlewild and DeSalvo
* Alex Grant (poet), Scottish-American poet, teacher
* Alexa ...
*
Altynai Asylmuratova
*
Claude Bessy
*
Brigitte Lefèvre
*
Carla Fracci
*
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
*
Helgi Tomasson
*
Irina Kolpakova
*
John Neumeier
*
John Taras
*
Karen Kain
*
Laurent Hilaire
*
Loipa Araújo
Loipa Araújo (born May 27, 1941) is a Cuban ballet dancer, ballet master, and teacher of ballet. Along with Aurora Bosch, Josefina Méndez, and Mirta Plá, she is regarded as one of the "four jewels of Cuban ballet". Nicknamed the "Cuban muse ...
*
Nadia Nerina
*Patrice Bart
*
Peter Schaufuss
*
Rudi van Dantzig
*
Rudolph Nureyev
*
Sofia Golovkina
*
Yuri Grigorovich
*
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 ...
*
Vladimir Malakhov
Laureates of the prizePrix Benois de la Danse, Laureates
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Composers
*George Kouroupos (1996)
*
Michel Legrand (2012)
*
Joby Talbot (2015)
*Ilya Demutsky (2018)
Designers
*
Olivier Debré (1998)
*Jaffar Chalabi (2000)
*Jurgen Rose (2002)
*Carlos Gallardo (2007)
*John Macfarlane (2015)
*Ren Dongsheng (2016)
*
Kirill Serebrennikov (2018)
Prix "Benois-Moscow Massine-Positano"
*
Ana Laguna (2015)
*
Edward Watson (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 (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