The Opening Ceremony of The I International Competition of Ballet Dancers in Moscow. Photo: TASS
The Competition of Ballet Dancers in Moscow was initiated by leading figures in the world of dance. Galina Ulanova, one of the most excellent ballet dancers of the XX century, who had been prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre for sixteen years and dedicated thirty-seven years of her life to teaching, became the Chairman of the international Jury of the Competition. Igor Moiseyev led the Organizing Committee; he was an outstanding ballet dancer, better known as a master of folk dance, who created the country's first professional folk dance ensemble (now the Igor Moiseyev Folk Dance Ensemble). It became famous all over the world. Another marvelous ballet dancer Olga Lepeshinskaya, also a prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre, devoted herself to teaching after her ballet career, played an essential role in creating the Competition.
On June 11, Ekaterina Furtseva, Minister of Culture of the USSR, announced the I International Competition for Ballet Dancers and Choreographers' official opening at the Bolshoi Theatre.
In 1969, 78 participants from 19 countries got on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. As in the following years, the I International Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers was conducted in three rounds. The final Jury meeting took place immediately after the third round and ended only the next day at 6 a.m. The Closing Ceremony took place on the evening of the same day.
Mikhail Baryshnikov (USSR), winner of The I International Competition of Ballet Dancers, first prize, gold medal. Photo: TASS
Six dancers managed to win gold medals at the First Moscow Competition. Three laureates got silver medals. Ten people received bronze medals. The Competition Jury also honored some of the competitors with Encouragement Awards and Diplomas.
Gold medals of the I Moscow International Competition were awarded to future prima and premieres of the Grand Opera House (Paris) Francesca Zumbo, and Patrice Bart; soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre Nina Sorokina, Yuri Vladimirov, and Malika Sabirova, and one of the most famous ballet dancers in the world, soloist of the Leningrad State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after S. M. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theatre), who later became premier and director of the American Ballet Theatre (New York), Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Thus one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions was founded. The success of the first contest in 1969 determined its fate. The International Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers in Moscow became an event where young dancers' careers were determined, where a new tradition was born, and where the best representatives of the ballet world met on the country's main stage.
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