Jury Announced for the XV International Ballet Competition

The XV International Ballet Competition will take place from 25 June to 5 July 2026 on the stage of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. This year, the Competition is dedicated to Yuri Grigorovich, People’s Artist of the USSR and one of the outstanding choreographers of our time.

The contestants’ artistry will be assessed by a distinguished jury comprising leading figures of the international ballet world:

 

The Competition Jury will be chaired by Svetlana Zakharova (Russia), People’s Artist of Russia, Laureate of the State Prize of Russia and Rector of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography;

Jovica Begojev (Serbia), Artistic Director of Ballet and Principal Ballet Dancer at the National Theatre in Belgrade;

Viengsay Valdés (Cuba), Prima Ballerina and General Director of the National Ballet of Cuba;

Ying Feng (China), Vice Chair of the Chinese Dancers Association and President of the National Ballet of China School;

Cecília Kerche (Brazil), Knight of the Order of Rio Branco, Dance Ambassador of the Brazilian Council of Dance at UNESCO and Former Prima Ballerina of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro;

Igor Kolb (Belarus), Honoured Artist of Russia and Chief Ballet Master of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus;

Esther Nasser (South Africa), choreographer, director, teacher, producer and Artistic Director of leading South African dance and ballet companies;

Tan Sağtürk (Turkey), Advisor to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey on Arts Affairs and Vice President of the International Federation of Ballet Competitions (IFBC);

Lili Xin (China), National Distinguished Arts Worker of China, Artistic Director of Shanghai Ballet, Vice Chair of the Shanghai Federation of Literary Circles and Chair of the Shanghai Dancers Association;

Sun Hee Kim (Republic of Korea), Professor Emeritus of Korea National University of Arts and Artistic Director of the K-Global Ballet Institute;

Gulzhan Tutkibayeva (Kazakhstan), People’s Artist of Kazakhstan, Professor and Artistic Director of the Ballet Company of the Abai Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theatre;

Andrian Fadeev (Russia), Honoured Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Ballet and Artistic Director of the Leonid Jacobson Ballet Theatre;

Tamás Solymosi (Hungary), Kossuth Prize Laureate, Outstanding Artist of Hungary and Director of the Hungarian National Ballet;

Boris Eifman (Russia), People’s Artist of Russia, Laureate of the State Prizes of Russia, Full Cavalier of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” and Founder and Artistic Director of the Boris Eifman Ballet Theatre.

 

A total of 362 applications were submitted from 35 countries. Following the selection round, 158 contestants from 30 countries will take part in the Competition: Australia, Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, the United States, Turkey, Uzbekistan, France, Sweden, South Africa and Japan. The Competition will traditionally bring together contestants in two age divisions: Junior (under 19) and Senior (under 27).

Live broadcasts of all rounds of the XV International Ballet Competition will be available on the official website, on the VK Video platform and in the Competition’s VKontakte community.

The Competition is founded by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and organised by the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT.