The Varna International Ballet Competition is a biennial ballet competition held in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. The competition was founded in 1964 and subsequently held in 1965 and 1966, and then every two years starting in 1968. Many dancers have gained their first international recognition at the competition. Since the contest is a fierce one lasting half a month, the Varna International Ballet Competition has been called the "olympics of dance".

Winners

* 1964 : Vladimir Vasiliev, Grand Prix of Varna;

Alla Sizova Alla Sizova (22 September 1939 – 23 November 2014) was a Russian ballet dancer, best known for her work with the Kirov Ballet. She was one of the four superstar ballerinas of the Soviet Union along with Natalia Makarova, Alla Osipenko and Irin ...

Ekaterina Maximova Ekaterina Sergeevna Maximova (russian: Екатерина Сергеевна Максимова; 1 February 1939 – 28 April 2009) was a Soviet and Russian ballerina of the second part of the 20th century who was internationally recognised. Sh ...

, Vera Kirova, Sergei Vikulov, and Nikita Dolgushin (all gold medal) * 1965 : Loipa Araújo (gold medal) * 1966 : Aurora Bosh (gold medal),

Martine van Hamel Martine van Hamel (born 16 November 1945) is a Dutch choreographer, director, teacher, retired ballerina and former Principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada and American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She was a gold medalist at the biennial Va ...

(distinction, junior division),

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...

(first place, junior division) * 1968 : Marta García (first place, junior division),

Rita Poelvoorde Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...

(silver medal) * 1970 :

Eva Evdokimova Eva Maria Evdokimova-Gregori (December 1, 1948 – April 3, 2009) was a Bulgarian-American ''Prima Ballerina Assoluta'' with the Royal Danish, Berlin Opera Ballets, English National Ballet and guest artist with virtually every major ballet co ...

(gold medal), Rosario Suárez (first place, junior division) * 1972 : Lyubov GershunovaУшла из жизни Любовь Васильевна Гершунова. VN.ru.
/ref> * 1974 :

Fernando Bujones Fernando Bujones (March 9, 1955 – November 10, 2005) was an American dancer. Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Bujones is regarded as one of the finest male dancers of the 20th century and hailed as one of the greatest American male dan ...

(gold medal), Yoko Morishita (gold medal), Tatyana Kapustina (bronze medal) * 1976 : Patrick Dupond (Special Prize of the Youth Organization of Varna, junior division) * 1978 : Élisabeth Platel (silver medal) // René de Cárdenas (best duo, junior division) * 1980 :

Evelyn Hart Evelyn Anne Hart (born April 4, 1956) is a Canadian ballerina and former principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Life and career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hart studied dance at the Dorothy Carter School of Dance in London, Ontario, Cana ...

(gold medal) and

David Peregrine David Peregrine, OC (September 19, 1954 – c. June 7, 1989) was a Canadian dancer and actor. Life He was born David Alan Evans in Llay, Wales and grew up in Ottawa. Peregrine studied ballet with Nesta Toumine in Ottawa, going on to study at ...

(bronze medal) //

Karin Averty Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise *Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' *Karin Kurosaki, a character in ''Bl ...

(Special Prize of the Youth Organization of Varna, junior division) * 1983 :

Sylvie Guillem Sylvie Guillem (; born 23 February 1965) is a French ballet dancer. Guillem was the top-ranking female dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet from 1984 to 1989, before becoming a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London. She has ...

(Special Prize of the Youth Organization of Varna, junior division) * 1984 :

Manuel Legris Manuel Legris is a French ballet dancer, born in Paris on October 10, 1964. He was an ''étoile'' (star dancer) of the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years. On September 1, 2010, he began direction of the Vienna State Ballet. He was appointed artisti ...

* 1988 : Virginie Kempf (gold medal) * 1992 :

Aurélie Dupont Aurélie Dupont (born 15 January 1973 in Paris) is a French ballet dancer who performed with the Paris Opera Ballet as an '' Étoile''. She began her career in dance in 1983 when she entered the Paris Opera Ballet School (''L’École de danse de ...

, José Carlos Martinez, (gold medals), Zenaida Yanowsky (silver medal),

Yury Yanowsky Yury Yanowsky (born 1972 in Lyon, France) is a French-born Spanish ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer with the Boston Ballet. Early life and training Yury Yanowsky was born in Lyon, France to Russian ballet dancer Anat ...

//Bernard Courtot de Bouteillier, Molly Smolen//Delphine Baey (bronze medals)), Molly Smolen (Prix de Nina Ricci) * 1994 :

Clairemarie Osta Clairemarie Osta (born 1970) is a French ballet dancer who performed with the Paris Opera Ballet as an ''étoile''. In 2017, she became the head of the ballet department at the Royal Swedish Ballet School. Early life Osta was born in Nice, and st ...

(silver medal), Laetitia Pujol (silver medal) * 1996 :

Rasta Thomas Rasta Kuzma Ramacandra (known professionally as Rasta Thomas) was born on July 18, 1981 in San Francisco and is a dancer, martial artist, gymnast, and choreographer. Thomas is the founder of the Bad Boys of Dance and director/owner of the Show ...

(first place, junior) * 1998 :

Zhu Yan Zhu Yan () is a Chinese ballet dancer. Since 1995, she has danced with the National Ballet of China where she is now the leading prima ballerina. Biography Zhu Yan started dancing ballet when she was nine. After graduating from the Beijing Dance A ...

(gold Medal) // Chi Cao (gold medal) * 2000 :

Lali Kandelaki Lali Kandelaki ( Georgian: ლალი კანდელაკი) (born September 9, 1972) is a Georgian ballerina with the State Ballet of Georgia. Biography Kandelaki was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and trained under Vakhtang Chabukiani, Nina ...

, Xiao Feng Fan, Shen Yi Sun (gold medal, seniors) * 2002 :

Hélène Bouchet Hélène Bouchet (born 1980) is a French ballet dancer is a principal dancer at the Hamburg Ballet. Early life Bouchet was born in Cannes in the south of France. She studied ballet at École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower and ...

(silver Medal) * 2004 :

Daniil Simkin Daniil Simkin (born 12 October 1987 in Novosibirsk, Russia) is a ballet dancer and entrepreneur, best known for his accomplished technical skill and charismatic stage presence. He is a principal dancer with both American Ballet Theatre and Berl ...

(gold medal, junior), Yum Yunesava (first place junior), Arman Grigoryan (gold medal, senior),

Mathilde Froustey Mathilde Froustey (born June 8, 1985, in Bordeaux, France) is a French ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet. Mathilde Froustey was a "Sujet" soloist of the Paris Opera Ballet until 2013. Early life Mathilde Frouste ...

(gold medal, senior) * 2006 : Aubert Vanderlinden,

Ivan Vasiliev Ivan Vladimirovich Vasiliev (born 9 January 1989) is a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He graduated from the Bielorussian Ballet School in 2006. Early on, he won prizes that include First Prize and Best Dancer Prize at the Arabesqu ...

(special prize, junior division) * 2012 : Brooklyn Mack (gold medal) // Denis Cherevichko (gold medal) * 2014 : Soo Bin Lee (special distinction),

Sara Renda Sara Renda is an Italian classic ballet dancer, on 15 December 2015 nominated Étoile at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, one of the youngest dancers to receive this recognition. Biography Renda is a native of Alcamo, in the province of Trapa ...

(bronze medal), Ralitsa Ilieva (bronze medal) *2016 : Amanda Gomes (gold medal) // Paul Marque (gold medal) *2018 :

António Casalinho António Casalinho (born June 14, 2003) is a Portuguese dancer, specializing in ballet dance and classical dance. He won the Youth America Grand Prix prize for his age category. In April 2017 he won the 3rd edition of the Portuguese TV show Got ...

(first place, juniors), Siyi Li (first place, girls), Yuan Zhe Zi Huan (gold medal，women), Katherine Barkman (silver medal), Sinuo Chang (gold medal, men){{cite web , url=https://varna-ibc.org/history/twenty-eight-international-ballet-competition-varna-2018/ , title=XXVI Varna IBC 2014 , date=18 April 2018

References

External links

The World Famous Stars of IBC – Varna

External links

Varna International Ballet Competition
Ballet competitions Culture in Varna, Bulgaria 1964 establishments in Bulgaria Biennial events Competitions in Bulgaria Recurring events established in 1964