Russian ballet competition at the Bolshoi Theater. Ballet marked “UD.”. Winners of different years

Every year, prestigious ballet competitions, choreographic competitions and professional shows are held around the world. And the competition of ballet dancers and choreographers, held in Moscow for the 13th time, is rightfully considered one of the most significant. The opening of the international competition will take place on June 11, and to see the gala concert, order tickets to the Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers on our website at attractive prices. In 2017, the tournament comes under the auspices of the “Year of Russian Ballet and the 200th anniversary of Marius Petipa”.

Over the years, the competition has acquired serious authority and an unshakable creative reputation. It has become part of the world ballet, an event where new names are discovered, promising artists shine and future stars demonstrate their talents. Without much hesitation, we can say that all participants in this event will have a brilliant career and conquer creative heights. More than 200 participants from 15 countries are already ready for intense competition.
Since 1973, Yuri Grigorovich has been a permanent member of the jury. He heads the jury and is also the artistic director of the competition.

There is no doubt that all 10 days of the competition will turn into a holiday for fans of choreography and ballet art. A memorable duel between beginning dancers will be bright and full of unexpected moments. There are 10 busy days ahead, and they need to start with the opening gala concert. You can order tickets for the XIII International Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers on our website right now.

The All-Russian competition of young performers “Russian Ballet” has finished at the Bolshoi Theater. The review takes place every two years. The current one is already the third in a row. Students of final and pre-graduation courses of ballet schools and universities participate in the creative competition. This time, 29 candidates presented their talents on the new stage of the country's main theater. Report by Irina Razumovskaya.

Most recently, here at the Bolshoi Theater there was a premiere of Valery Todorovsky’s film “Bolshoi” about the attitude and path of young ballet dancers and teachers. The Russian Ballet Award is a real story on this topic. Today, the best of the best are getting very close to their dream - to dance at the Bolshoi.

They are 17, 18 years old, students of choreographic schools came to the competition from all over Russia: Kazan, Novosibirsk, Perm, Bashkiria, Buryatia... Most are preparing for final exams and performances. And, of course, they dream about one thing.

“My dream is to dance in the best theater, and to dance very well, with soul, to carry it into the hall, to open up to the whole hall!” - says competition participant Anastasia Shelomentseva.

“My dream is to become a good dancer. To have charisma inside is the most important thing,” contest participant Andrei Kirichenko is convinced.

“Becoming a promising ballet dancer - so that I can bring something more to art,” admits competition participant Igor Kochurov.

The main reward is an internship at the Bolshoi Theater and golden pointe shoes on the pedestal. But not everyone can cope with anxiety. The competition has a strict and very honorable jury - they are greeted with a long standing ovation. Yuri Grigorovich, Boris Eifman, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, heads of the country's leading ballet troupes and theaters.

“Of course, there are rules and a rating scale that the jury will have to assign to each performer. We've been using this for three years now. Points are calculated online. After the performance of every five participants, sheets are collected from the jury members and a count is made,” says the acting director. head of the ballet troupe of the State Academic Mariinsky Theater, member of the competition jury Yuri Fateev.

The teachers are almost more worried than the competitors. Yes, many of the young performers still miss, stumble, landing in a jump or in a spin. But that's why they are students. By the way, teachers are awarded cash certificates for preparing laureates of all degrees and Grand Prix.

“This competition really stimulates them - they have to come to Moscow and show their abilities, preparation and defend the honor of the school. They come to Moscow on the main stage of the country, and this is very honorable and responsible,” notes Marina Leonova, rector of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, member of the competition jury.

After counting the points, the majority of the laureates are still from the choreographic schools of the two capitals. The Grand Prix was awarded to Denis Zakharov from the Moscow Academy. Vaganovka students Egor Gerashchenko and Eleonora Sevenard took first place. And the second and third places were shared by young ballet dancers from Moscow, Perm and Novosibirsk.

Anyone who has seen the screenings of the first round, to the best of their own discernment, can decipher the heading in the title as both “satisfactory” and “depressing.” Any assessment of the overall level of the ongoing ballet show will be fair. A fairly significant number of contestants without a strong individuality and with elementary school gaps do not allow us to give a solid four.

The coveted GRAN PRIX is again unlikely to find an owner. Unless, of course, a miracle happens and someone, having overcome the debut excitement, is able to conquer the jury with brilliant dance technique, artistry and... attractive appearance (there are also problems with this). So far, no one has even come close to the four winners of the main prize - Irek Mukhamedov, Andrei Batalov, Denis Matvienko and the first Grand Dame. Already at their first appearance on stage, the audience took their breath away. It was not clear how, for example, this fragile birdie girl Nadya from Perm acquired real ballerina chic? Where did the culture of her huge step in ““, which amazed everyone, come from, which other ballerinas later transformed from an academic ecarte into a dashing leg-tearing?

If at the second competition the success of a pupil of a provincial ballet school seemed like an accidental exception, then today the entire geography of the country is on the map of the show: Voronezh, Izhevsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Syktyvkar, Ufa, Yakutsk and Moscow with St. St. Petersburg. Not all participants will make it to the finals, but the very arrival of envoys from distant regions is visible evidence of the unprecedented popularity of the art of ballet in Russia.

This happens all over the world, as confirmed by participants from more than twenty countries, including those where ballet was not a priority of national culture. Therefore, quite interesting representatives from Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan can be called a revelation of the competition. Strong and numerous landings of participants arrived from Brazil and China, Japan and South Korea.

True, the emergence of numerous new ballet schools has given rise to problems with quality training. Firstly, not everywhere teachers have the proper level of training. Secondly, most studio schools exist entirely or partially on private funds, and then the conditions are set by the students. If the children wanted to dance Esmeralda, Kitri or Basil with Actaeon, the teacher agreed, and the mother paid. One is taken aback by observing at the competition the obvious discrepancy between the selected variations and the physical characteristics of the performer and the degree of his mastery of the technique.

However, no one really stands on ceremony with technology; the freedom of replacement is amazing. And when you see three variations in a row of Swanilda from “Coppelia” staged by A. Gorsky, but completely different in choreography, you understand the great wisdom of Medici.tv to start live broadcasts of the competition only from the second round. Otherwise, you can completely confuse both spectators and professionals, and, most importantly, you yourself will unwittingly become a promoter of bad examples of classical ballet and bad taste.

There were quite a few fairly weak, C-grade, participants in the first round both in the morning, when the younger ones competed (from 14 to 19 years old), and in the evening, where the older ones (from 19 to 27) competed. Although the division took place according to passport data, everything was mixed up on stage. Failures should not be attributed to natural excitement, an unusually sloping stage or floor covering: everyone was on equal terms. And the one who performed better was the one who had not so much stronger nerves, but a better school. And many people have problems with it.

It is assumed that the main task of young artists of the junior group is to show a correct, “school” performance: purity of movements, correct form, musicality, coupled with which a sense of style and artistry can be manifested. Often something else prevailed - untrained feet, raised shoulders, “dirt” in small ground techniques, not to mention disrupted pirouettes and jumps without flight.

The older group has a different problem. Many artists tried to overcome the shortcomings of the school base with spectacular tricks, including unimaginable revolts in the countless “Flames of Paris”, obvious reliance on external impressions, and excessive exaltation of each movement. The Asians especially stood out, as they uncompromisingly, in the spirit of martial arts, entered the element of classical ballet. As a result, I wanted to see beauty and spirituality on stage, but instead there was a whole line of clumsy, short dummies that looked alike - vertuns and jumpers. It’s as if they are not ballet dancers, but circus performers in the arena. True, in the circus they do everything cleaner, they jump higher and spin faster.

The result is logical: out of 127 participants, less than half made it to the second round, and only that. 62 artists will continue to compete for medals.