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New York IBCompetition 2007


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This began last week and will continue through June 24. The 'public' schedule of the IBC is as follows:

Round I / Beginning: Classical Pas de Deux

June 20, 8:00 p.m.

Round I / Conclusion: Classical Pas de Deux

June 21, 8:00 p.m.

Round II: Contemporary Pas de Deux and Solos

June 22, 8:00 p.m.

Round III: Classical Pas de Deux

June 23, 8:00 p.m.

Gala and Awards Ceremony

June 24, 7:00 p.m.

Rose Theater

Frederick P. Rose Hall

Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center

Broadway at 60th Street, NYC

I recognize a few names among the competitors, e.g., Abigail Simon of the Joffrey, with Gerald Doble (both USA) of ABT Studio Co; Ms Tae Kyong Um (Korea) who is among Vaganova Academy current students; Marcelo Martinez (Paraguay), currently with Washington Ballet; and Ms. Hinako Sakuraoka (Japan) of the Kirov Academy of DC. Good luck to them and to ALL competitors!

Top-flight judging panel includes none other than the likes of Makhar Vaziyev (Kirov-Mariinsky AD), Dinna Bjorn, Claude Bessy, Yoko Morishita, Eddie Villella, Ashley Page, etc, etc.

Any reports on what is happening during the current pre-public phase? What are the selected pas de deuxs for this year (which all competitors are currently learning)?

Anybody planning on attending the public rounds? Looking forward to any & all reports!

Competition website: www.nyibc.org

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I've received some pr releases. Here are a few:

DANCERS FROM 19 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD WILL 'GO FOR THE GOLD' IN THE JUNE 20-24 NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION

Young ballet dancers, aged 17-24, will be in New York from June 2 to 25 for New York's own New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC). The 2-week preparation period will begin Monday June 4th, and the public Competition will take place at the Rose Theater, 60th Street & Broadway, June 20-23. The announcement of the winners and gala performance will take place June 24th, hosted by Bebe Neuwirth.

The Competition is a great challenge for the young dancers and a career boost for many. In addition to the enthusiastic audiences, they will be seen by ballet company directors and a panel of renowned judges from around the world, chaired by Valentina Kozlova, former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and the New York City Ballet.

Countries represented this year are:

Brazil Korea

Canada Lithuania

China Paraguay

Chinese Taipei Philippines

Costa Rica Russia

Cuba Ukraine

Dominican Republic

Estonia U.S.A.

Finland Uzbekistan

Japan Venezuela

from Brazil: Diego Braga and partner Mariana Lenzi

Both study at the Margareth Monteiro Dance School

Brazil/Japan: Paulo Arrais was born in Brazil; his partner is

Miharu Maki of Japan, and both are members of the

Norwegian National Ballet

Brazil/Venezuela: Ricardo Graziano of Brazil and partner

Karina Gonzalez are currently members of the Tulsa

Ballet

Canada/USA: Canadian James Clark, currently studying at

the National Ballet School of Canada. His partner is

Sabrina Delafield of the USA, at the same school.

China: Wu Husheng and partner Wang Ya'nan, both

members of the Shanghai Ballet.

China/Korea: Chao Shi of China and partner Seo Yeon Yu

of Korea, both dancers with the Dutch National Ballet.

Chinese Taipai/Japan: Shih-Huai Liang of Chinese Taipei,

a dancer with Columbia Classical Ballet. His

partner is Hinako Sakuraoka of Japan, a student at the

Kirov Academy of Ballet in the U.S.

Cuba/Dominican Republic: Danny Lopez of Cuba and

partner Vanessa Contin of the Dominican Republic,

both students at Ballet Clasico Alina Abreu.

Cuba/USA: Rodrigo Gonzales of Cuba, who studied at the

National Ballet School of Canada. Partner is Grace-

Anne Powers of the USA, who trained at The Art of

Classical Ballet.

Japan/USA: Mugen Kazama was born in Japan; his partner

Kiri Chapman is from the USA, and both are members

of the Tulsa Ballet.

Korea: Jung Young Jae and partner Kim Na Eun are both

from Korea and study at The Korean National U. of Arts.

Korea: Young-Do Lee and partner Seung-Won Shin were

born in Korea and are students at The Korean National

University of Arts.

Korea: Kwi Sub Park and partner Eun Ji Ha are from Korea

and both study at The Korean National U. of Arts.

Lithuania/Finland: Evaldas Bielinis of Lithuania and partner

Elina Miettinen of Russia are both dancers with The

Finnish National Ballet.

Paraguay/Argentina: Marcelo Martinez of Paraguay,

currently dancing with The Washington Ballet; his

partner is Tatiana Mersan of Argentina, a student at

the Joffrey School, NYC.

Philippines: Jean Marc Cordero and partner Candace

Adeo were both born in the Philippines. He is a

student at the Cultural Center of the Philippines

Dance School; Adeo dances with Ballet Philippines.

Estonia/Japan: Artyom Maksokov of Estonia currently

dances with Estonia National Opera Ballet; his

partner Momoko Sasada of Japan studies at the

Joffrey Ballet School, NYC.

Russia/Korea: Denis Kupriyanov of Russia and partner Tae

Kyoung Um of Korea are both students at the

Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ukraine/Uzbekistan: Volodmyr Bannikov of the Ukraine

dances with the Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre;

partner Sanija Abilmajneva of Uzbekistan studies at

The Art College in Krasnogorsk.

USA/Canada: Jacob Garrett of the USA and partner

Crystal Hartford of Canada are members of

Colorado Ballet Studio Company.

USA/Costa Rica: Chris Mackenthun of the USA graduated

from Point Park U; partner Margarita Peralta of Costa

Rica dances with La Escuelo de Ballet Clasico Ruso.

USA: Gerald Doble of USA is a member of ABT Studio Co,;

partner Abigail Simon of the USA is a member of the

Joffrey Ballet.

USA: Ryan Timothy Nye and partner Shelby Dyer are both

from the USA. He dances with Ballet Idaho/Eugene

Ballet; she is with the Colorado Ballet.

USA: Sean Omandam and partner Alyssa Velasquez, both

from the USA, are members of the Colorado Ballet.

AT THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION ORIENTATION ON SUNDAY JUNE 3RD,

DIRECTOR ILONA COPEN ANNOUNCED TO THE EXCITED YOUNG DANCERS THE THREE PAS DE DEUX SELECTED FOR THIS YEAR:

Round One: Coppelia pas de deux

taught and coached by Deborah Wingert

Wednesday & Thursday June 20 & 21 at 8 PM

Over the two-night period, all entrants will be seen in this

pas de deux; some will then be eliminated

Round Two: Divertimento, music by Haydn

choreographed, taught and coached by Victoria

Mazzarelli, only Gold Medalist at the first NYIBC in 1984

(and still the only American woman to receive a Gold),

Friday June 22, 8 PM, followed by further eliminations

by the judges;

Round Three: Black Swan pas de deux

taught and coached by Winthrop Corey, danced by

the finalists, Saturday June 23 at 8 PM

Awards Ceremony and Performance, hosted by Bebe Neuwirth, will take place Sunday June 24 at 7 PM

Every morning at the Ailey School, starting Monday June 4th, begins with class, 9:30 to 11 AM, taught by either Ronnie Mahler or Fabrice Herrault; then the dancers break into three groups to learn the three pas de deux. The public competition will take place at the Rose Theatre, Broadway & 60th Street.

Writers and critics are invited to stop by the Ailey studios, and to move from studio to studio to see some of the process.

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Thanks, Dale. Round 3 with all finalists performing Black Swan pdd (incl the 32 fouettes in the coda) should be a doozy! It will interesting to see the weight/value that is placed on clean fouettes vis-a-vis final list of ladies medalists (compared to total performance).

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If anyone is attending this week, I am sure we would all love a report, especially for round one this Wednesday and Thursday. Do let us know your impressions.

Round one will be Coppelia.

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I saw the 2nd half of Round 1 (Coppelia Act 3 PdD) Thurs. evening. IMO, the standouts were Paulo Arrais of Brazil, Wu Husheng of China and Seung-Won Shin of Korea. In no one couple were both the man and women both equally good (or bad).

Paulo and Wu are long-legged and elegant dancers, with big jumps and good, sharp beats. What made Paulo stand out for me was his dramatic stage presence - his continuous rapport with his partner (who was unfortunately not his equal) and his fluid arms/upper body. Wu was also very good but had less presence. Seung-Won was the best of the women, tall, fluid and elegant with clean technique (no wobbles, good positions in poses) and a good pirouettes. As second best woman, my vote would go to Abigail Simon.

I happened to sit next to Deborah Wingert (who set and coached the piece) and behind the row of judges (I was almost directly behind Claude Bessy). Deborah seemed pleased with the first six couples (or, as she put it "five out of six paid attention") while it was interesting to watch Bessy either paying close attention or talking to her fellow judge when, (the latter,I fear, she felt a performer wasn't doing so well). I'm curious how these performances are scored but since the judges enter and leave separately from the audience, I never had a chance to ask.

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Results after Round II:

http://www.nyibc.org/2007/results.php

This is quickly becoming an All-Korea Competition, with four of the six (66.66%) remaining women from that country, as well as three of the ten remaining men. Hearty congratulations to Korea, the land that also brings us the current figure skating Grand Prix Champion, Yu-Na Kim!

Round III just took place but results not yet known. Final awards-naming gala is tonight.

Will tonight see the first NY-IBC ladies gold medalist in over a decade? There has been none since 1996 (Barbora Kohoutkova of Czech Republic). Women's gold medals have been awarded only TWICE in the 23-year history of this prix (Kohoutkova in '96 + Victoria Mazzarelli of the USA, at the first NYIBC, in 1984). C'mon ladies! :)

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I am thrilled to see my "homie", Artjom Maksakov (Estonia) still in the competition! :):toot:

He was a graduating student at the Tallinn Ballet School in 2003-2004, when my daughter was dancing with the Estonian National Ballet, and was already under contract to the company because he was SO good. Last year (2006) he became a first soloist. Artjom was born in July 1984 in Ukraine. He is one amazing dancer and I am so happy he went on to Round III.

Here's a picture:

Artjom Maksakov

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This is the first time, when I saw NYC competition and it makes me wonder about rules and regulations. Participants accepted as couples, but it looks like half of them never danced together and pairs were very, very uneven, the same as skills level. I felt really sorry for poor Cuban boy, who has a partner much taller then he is, the same as Estonian guy who has a very short Japanese girl. In this case it doesn't matter, how good you are, but you just looks awful, both men and women.

After the first day I was shocked by the low level of technique and physical conditions of dancers. Some of them definitely shouldn't be there at all. The second day was much better an gave me some hope. Sorry, I left the program in N.Y. and I don't remember names, but after "Coppelia" few dancers really stand out of the group. They are Korean girl, who won the gold later. Chinese boy, who won the silver. Brasilian boy (Amour mentioned him) and couple from Philippines, who were only one true duet, with equal partners, who supported each other, who listen to the music and who LIVED on the stage. Unfortunately the boy was eliminated from the first round, because other boys were stronger techniqually. Actually, in this competition boys were much stronger then girls and in final round we saw 10 boys and only 6 girls.

In contemporary round I like two dancers - Cuban boy, who brilliantly danced Neuimeyer's choreography and American girl Abigel ..., who showed very good pointe technique and musicality. Most of other numbers looks like was made by one choreographer. I hate this popular style, made usually on some songs - run, run, fall; run, run, jump; girls make pelvis rotation, boys make "wave" of the body, now freeze and make some suffering face , this one:yucky: or that one :clapping: .

The last round: Black Swan pas de deux became a hard nut for everybody. NOBODY did it clean, even the male variation was cut short (for what reason?!) except, guess who? Cuban boy and his partner, who was only the girl who made multiple clean fouette and he made clean variation and coda. Unfortunately, their partnering was awful and so, they didn't get any medals. Chinese boy( who has incredible good body, by the way) wasn't good partner and 2-3 pirouettes are not enough for the gold. Brasilian, even he is very good partner and really understanding what is he doing on the stage, unfortunately doesn't have a good jump from both legs and cut short of the medal.

So, I agree with judges that male didn't deserve the gold, but the same should be done with girls, I believe. Korean girl didn't make clean fouette and her character wasn't 100% convincing either.

Anyway, good luck for all dancers in their future life! Those who made it with medals, don't stop, go ahead and those who lost, I hope it makes you work even harder, remember, the life is not finished yet :clapping:

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I attended only the Sunday gala but agree with almost everything Andrei has written. WOW - most of the competitors who I saw -- and I saw only the finalists on Sunday -- would barely squeak through Round I of any of the bigger IBCs, such as Varna & Jackson. Sorry to be so blunt but, in general, this is the weakest group of young dancers I've seen in 20-some years of attending IBCs around the world. Perhaps they all were tired after three intensive weeks of classes & learning new pdds, something that doesn't happen at other competitions?

On the positive side --

FINALLY a female gold medalist at this competition, after 11 years of waiting! The competition's lone gold medalist, Eun Ji Ha, is gorgeous! She has beautiful long lines with a sublime first arabesque -- but not exageratedly so, al-la Somova of Kirov. She danced Black Swan at the gala & had a spot-on adagio, lovely solo, then almost ran out of gas in the 32 fouettes (all singles) in the coda...but she pushed & completed them. She obviously won the gold due to overall beauty & artistry, and not due to ability in fouettes. That's OK -- the jury was wise in looking at overall artistry when making the awards.

Also, the top-rated guy, Chinese (Wu Husheng), possesses a beautiful figure and glowing face (charisma factor). He won a one-yr contract to the regular (not Studio) ABT company. He is tall & elegant...and ABT needs those tall talented guys! It's too bad that there are currently no openings for women in the main ABT company or they may have selected Eun Ji Ha, too.

And speaking of charisma, no single male competitor had 'it' like Korea's Kwi Sub Park -- not only in his bicyclist solo but as Siegfried to Eun Ji Ha's Odile in Black Swan. He won the lone male bronze medal of the event, ending up just behind Wu Husheng in the standings, among the men.

A LOT of people in the audience seemed to be upset that the Venezuelan lady (Karina Gonzalez) won 'only' silver (shared with the petite Na Eun Kim of Korea). I disagree -- to these eyes, she was quite Dolly Dinkle-ish especially above the waist (floppy-floppy hands, arms, spine, etc.). They must teach a method other than Vaganova down in Caracas, I suspect. Again, sorry for my bluntness. On the other hand, Gonzalez has very fleet pointe work, displayed nicely in her Coppelia pdd solo...and one of the big 'plusses' with Ceccheti & Bournonville method (compared to Vaganova).

The Arpino Prize -- a contract to the Joffrey Ballet -- was NOT given this year due to there being no current openings in the company. Bummer...

One of the best parts of Sunday's gala was the touching tribute paid to the late Fernando Bujones, ABT superstar & truly a Prince Among Princes. Former ABT ballerinas Eleanor D'Antuono and Cynthia Gregory gave loving tributes, while Bujones' widow, Maria, graciously accepted a gold medal in his memory.

So 2007 is shaping up to be The Year of Korean Beauties - ballerinas & danceurs, a champion figure skater and the favorite at Miss Universe 2007, too, if any of you followed that. Bravo, Korea!!!

p.s. Makhar Vaziyev of the Kirov-Mariisnky was a no-show among judges. Competition founder Ilona Copen very quickly cited the name of an Israeli judge ("Egal Perry"???) who stepped in at the last minute "...when one of the original judges dropped out." The replacement judge was unable to attend the final gala, so we did not see him sitting among the jurors on the stage, as awards were made. Earlier, Edward Villella of Miami CIty Ballet had dropped out as juror & chair; he was replaced by Valentina Kozlova of New Jersey Ballet Theater. Among the other luminaries who *did* make the panel this year were Claude Bessy, Yoko Moroshita and Dinna Bjorn.

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It did not show, liljules. :) Perhaps she did better in the competition rounds -- where it counts. Sunday night's gala was not judged (post-competition) and perhaps Karina and many others were tired.

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p.s. Makhar Vaziyev of the Kirov-Mariisnky was a no-show among judges. Competition founder Ilona Copen very quickly cited the name of an Israeli judge ("Egal Perry"???) who stepped in at the last minute "...when one of the original judges dropped out." The replacement judge was unable to attend the final gala, so we did not see him sitting among the jurors on the stage, as awards were made.

That's Igal Perry, founder of Peridance Dance School (currently and temporarily located at 890 bway).

He's been in NY since the 70s I believe.

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FINALLY a female gold medalist at this competition, after 11 years of waiting! The competition's lone gold medalist, Eun Ji Ha, is gorgeous! She has beautiful long lines with a sublime first arabesque -- but not exageratedly so, al-la Somova of Kirov. She danced Black Swan at the gala & had a spot-on adagio, lovely solo, then almost ran out of gas in the 32 fouettes (all singles) in the coda...but she pushed & completed them. She obviously won the gold due to overall beauty & artistry, and not due to ability in fouettes. That's OK -- the jury was wise in looking at overall artistry when making the awards.

I'm finding it hard - no, impossible - to reconcile Natalia's glowing account with the photograph of Eun Ji Ha in the NYT (see links for today). Somebody please tell me this isn't a typical pose! (And yes, I did work out they have the names the wrong way round!)

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I'm finding it hard - no, impossible - to reconcile Natalia's glowing account with the photograph of Eun Ji Ha in the NYT (see links for today). Somebody please tell me this isn't a typical pose!

I had trouble putting the two together, too. When I saw the picture I winced for its vulgarity. What is artistic or beautiful about having a crotch thrust in your face?!

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I am afraid that I agree with Jane Simpson and Marga about the photo. Natalia was there so she is the ultimate authority on this dancer; I do wonder, however, about awarding the first gold medal in many years to a dancer who can barely get through the Black Swan pas de deux. A competition is about artistry, but it is also about technique.

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The pose in the photo is not the total performance. Funny thing - recently, a group of folks who are not fans of Diana Vishneva showed a photo of precisely this pose, in Diana's Black Swan pdd at the Bolshoi, to 'prove' that Vishneva is a vulgar dancer. If Eun Ji Ha is being criticized for the same reasons as was Diana Visneva, then that's not such a bad thing, is it?

As one who was there and saw the 'total gamut' of performances, I can state with confidence that Eun Ji Ha -- single-fouettes and all -- was MILES above any of the other women. For example, she would have easily beaten one Sarah Lamb, who earned a silver at this competition two years ago. Eun is that much better than Lamb, as a total artist. And you can quote me on that one!

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Thanks for the correction, Mme. Hermine. I saw Lamb's Odette-Odile in London last month and was not at all impressed by the general coldness of her interpretation -- although she did perform spiffy double-fouettes in place of singles during most of the fouette sequence. On the other hand, Eun truly knows how to perform & radiate the nasty charm of Odile. That's the difference between a fine technician (a 'school girl' type) and an artist. I am sure that the IBC judges saw the special magic in Eun. It was very obvious to me.

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I believe you, Natalia, since you were there, and yes, a photograph often does take things out of context. I am sorry the Times chose to run this one. I know that their photographers take dozens of shots at a time -- I've seen it. Also, I'm in the camp of those who believe that just because you can doesn't mean you should. Although Odile has more reason to take her penchés further than Odette, as she must be the über-Odette in order to make Siegfried forget about the real one, I still think that going beyond 180 degrees is a bit much in ballet. Ballet is not gymnastics. I love Sarah Lamb, and if you say that Eun is "miles" above her, then I am very interested in seeing Eun perform myself.

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I wish that I had been able to see the competition - sounds like it was quite interesting!!

I know that the format for this one is different to Jackson and Varna (from what I've read, at any rate), in that the dancers don't learn the pieces until they arrive in NYC. I know they prepare one piece in advance, but they don't know what they will be dancing until the start of the competition. For most other competitions, aren't the variations practised for quite some time in advance?

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I need to join the chorus about the photo... I actually came to this thread to find out what was going on that a dancer would expose that pose on stage and the NY Times would print it.

I don't really think you can call that an arabesque penche. I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not an arabesque.

Is this what competitions have come to?

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I was also completely taken aback by the photo. I think even from a more 'correct' angle, it would not be flattering, and doesn't display a nice line at all, let alone anything else.... I agree about 'no need to go beyone 180' and that it is not an arabesque.....

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