Beijing International Ballet and Choreographer Competition

Posted on July 5, 2013

Beijing’s second International Ballet and Choreography competition will be held from July 5 to 13. Tonight’s sold-out opening gala features San Francisco Ballet’s Yuan Yuan Tan and Taiwanese virtuoso Fang-Yi Sheu (pictured) alongside 2011 winners Ma Xiaodong, Zhan Xinlu, Li Renxiu and Wang Yun.

This is the second biannual competition, held with support from the Beijing municipal government and the recognition of China’s Ministry of Culture, the competition aims to discover fine ballet dancers and choreographers, and to promote international exchange.

This year, the competition is still divided into classical ballet and choreography sections, but has added a youth section for dancers aged from 17 to 20. With the support of sponsors, including NCPA and the Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charity Foundation, the grand prize has been increased to $20,000. This year’s judges include the Maryinsky Ballet’s Uliana Lopatkina, who will also dance The Dying Swan at the awards ceremony and closing gala.

All competitions, plus opening and closing galas, will be open to the public, with special low-priced tickets. Tonight’s opening gala will include Times Have Changed, 2×2 and Crossing – Three Women Dance, plus Chinese folk dances.

The awards ceremony, divided into “Bud”, “Bloom” and “Blooming” sections, will be held on July 12. The closing gala will include guest appearances by former American Ballet Theatre star Angel Corella, Stuttgart Ballet’s Friedemann Vogel, New York City Ballet’s Ana Sophia Scheller, Dutch National Ballet’s Matthew Golding and Anna Tsygankova, Berlin Ballet’s Dmitry Semionov and more.

See www.china-ibcc.org for more information about the competition.

Photograph: Belinda Lawley

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.