DANCE OPEN AWARD:
the best dancers in the world receive well-deserved awards

Yesterday, April 25, the XV anniversary season of the DANCE OPEN International Ballet Festival ended. Traditionally, the final point of the festival was a gala concert of world ballet stars. Each of the participants in the gala was nominated for the DANCE OPEN St. Petersburg International Ballet Prize, which is awarded for the 6th time in St. Petersburg.

The jury, which included Hans van Manen (Dutch National Ballet), Ted Brandsen (Dutch National Ballet), Christian Shpuk (Ballett Zürich), Edward Klug (Slovenian National Ballet of Maribor), Irina Chernomurova (Bolshoi Theater of Russia), Eric Gautier )Gauthier Dance), Vyacheslav Samodurov (Ekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater), Yuri Fateev (Mariinsky Theater), Alexey Miroshnichenko (Perm Ballet) and Boris Eifman (Boris Eifman Ballet Theater), determined the winners of the DANCE OPEN Prize.

In the nomination "Ms. Virtuosity ”, the jury noted the unsurpassed level of skill and the highest talent of Yana Salenko. This is the 4th award that the prima ballerina of the Berlin Ballet receives as part of the DANCE OPEN. This year, the crystal figurine - a replica of the sculpture from the footprint of the great ballerina Anna Pavlova, Yana received from the hands of Sergei Bezrukov, People’s Artist of Russia and artistic director of the Moscow Provincial Drama Theater.

Winner in the nomination "Mr. Virtuosity ”became Matthew Golding - he was awarded the honorary citizen of St. Petersburg, Honored coach of Russia in figure skating Tamara Moskvina. She noted the strong connection of figure skating and ballet as a harmonious synthesis of art and sport. The evidence of the correctness of her words was a spectacular choreographic support, which was immediately brilliantly performed by Mr. Virtuosity - 2016 and the legendary Russian athlete.

Prize in the nomination "Ms. Expressiveness ”was presented immediately by 2 real favorites of the Petersburg public - actor, singer, laureate of the All-Russian theater awards“ Golden Mask ”and“ Musical Heart of the Theater ”Ivan Ozhogin and actor of the Lensovet Theater Sergey Peregudov. The winner in this category was the incomparable Anna Tsygankova.

Title "Mr. Expressiveness ”, the jury awarded Remy Wortmeyer, who received an award from the audience last year. The statuette was handed to the dancer by Olympic figure skating champion Elena Berezhnaya and multiple world champion in ballroom dancing professionals Brian Watson.

The best duo, according to the jury, were Alicia Amatrian and Jason Riley, who performed the production of Punk Love, in the choreography of Eric Gauthier - a daring, energetic, but full of humor number. The crystal “legs” were handed to the artists by the Olympic figure skating champion Natalya Bestemyanova and her husband, artistic director of the Ice Miniature Theater, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Igor Bobrin.

The prize of the main nomination of the St. Petersburg International DANCE OPEN Grand Prix Award went to the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. The jury recognized as the best ballet dancers in 2016 at once two participants of the gala - Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin. Frequent participants of the festival and the favorites of the world ballet community, they already became laureates of the DANCE OPEN Prize, but they received the main award for the first time. The cherished statuettes were presented to the brilliant duo by the master of world ballet and the chairman of the jury Prize Hans van Manen and the creator and leader of the Festival Ekaterina Galanova.

“Audience Choice Award” is a special nomination of the DANCE OPEN Prize, the winners of it are chosen by the audience of the gala concert. This year, the special guest of the festival, the ex-premier of the Paris Opera, who acted as a guest star on many stages of the world, and now the artistic director of the Vienna Ballet Company Manuel Legri, became the laureate. Despite the fact that the maestro ended his career as a dancer, in honor of the 15th anniversary of DANCE OPEN, he again went on stage and performed a fragment from the ballet “The Bat”. Crystal statuette Manuel Legri was presented by Ekaterina Galanova.

The DANCE OPEN International Ballet Festival was held on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater from April 16 to 25. For 10 festival days, the audience was able to see the performances of modern choreographers performed by the ballet troupes of the Vienna State Opera and the Dresden Semper Opera; “Romeo and Juliet” directed by Kenneth Macmillan and performed by the Perm Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, as well as the soloists of the Royal Theater Covent Garden; Ed Glub’s fantasy saga Per Gunt performed by the ballet of the National Slovenian Theater of Maribor and the premiere of the Mariinsky Theater Denis Matvienko.

The final climax of the festival was the traditional DANCE OPEN Gala of stars and the ceremony of presenting the “ballet Oscar” - VI International DANCE OPEN AWARDS Ballet Award in the Marble Hall of the Russian Ethnographic Museum.