pherank Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 Anyone else read this announcement at Dance Magazine? This Year's Varna International Ballet Competition Just Got Postponed (indefinitely) [posted February 11, 2020] https://www.dancemagazine.com/varna-ibc-2645108024.html "Organizers told Reuters that they haven't received sufficient sponsorship or donations to produce the event this year. According to the competition's website, less than 30 percent of Varna IBC's operating costs are state subsidized." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandik Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Oh dear -- Varna has been an institution for many years, and this is a sad piece of news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) I was wondering how long the older, traditional ballet competitions would last. There are other, faster ways for young dancers to get noticed and hired by top companies. Even among competitions, Varna was becoming a bit of a dinosaur. We now have the more popular and all-geographical-encompassing YAGP, for example. Also, wasn't there a political component to the Varna and Moscow competitions, at least in the early years? I may be wrong but it seemed to be, in part, a showcase for socialist values/communist systems. Whenever a dancer from any place but the USSR or a satellite of the USSR (including Cuba) won, it made headlines because it was such a rare occurrence. I'm thinking of N. Am. dancers like Fernando Bujones or Evelyn Hart, who won gold medals despite representing the wrong side, if you will. Edited February 18, 2020 by Roberta clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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