USA International Ballet Competition Awards Go to 13 Medalists From 8 Nations
July 4, 2006
The New york times
The award for best senior couple was given to Davit Karapetyan of Armenia and Vanessa Zahorian.
JACKSON, Miss., July 2 — The cream of Jackson society was at Thalia Mara Hall on Saturday night for the Olympic-style awarding of medals to the winners of the eighth USA International Ballet Competition.
Adiarys Almeida Santana, from Cuba, and Joseph Michael Gatti, from the United States, at the USA International Ballet Competition.
Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, stood up from the audience for a bow and stayed until the end of the gala event. A starting field of 121 dancers from 27 countries had been narrowed to 13 medalists from 8 nations, with fans muttering about who had been "robbed," and ballet students screaming for their favorites. There were corporate prizes like that from Tutu.com and the TutusDivine Awards in addition to medals and other honors. Twenty-seven years after its promising but rather down-home start, the Jackson competition has clearly arrived.
It all began in 1975 when Ms. Mara, a dance writer and teacher who died in 2003, was invited to Jackson to develop professional ballet in the city. There were then no other international competitions in America. Jackson was far from being a major dance city, and besides, it was so very hot there in the summer.
But Ms. Mara brought in big ballet guns like Robert Joffrey, who had a lot of experience with ballet contests throughout the world. The city went into full-gear Southern hospitality mode. Today the event, held every four years, is one of six major international ballet contests around the world, including the biannual New York International Ballet Competition. Ten of the 13 junior (15 to 18 years old) and senior (19 to 26) medalists had won honors in at least two other international competitions.
American competitions now lure the subculture of professional contestants. A performance of the "Black Swan" pas de deux from "Swan Lake," danced by Misa Kuranaga of Japan, who won the senior gold medal, and Daniel Sarabia (both of the Boston Ballet), was so coolly polished that it looked out of place in a competition program.
But something surprising happened on Saturday night. The two demons of international competitions — hard-sell bravura dancing and flirtatious contemporary ballet solos for male competitors — were much less in evidence. And the highlight of the gala, which rightly drew the cheering audience to its feet in the evening's only standing ovation, was an astonishing performance of the pas de deux from "Le Corsaire" by Joseph Michael Gatti, a senior bronze medalist from the United States, and Adiarys Almeida Santana, a Cuban finalist, both in their early 20's and soloists at the Cincinnati Ballet.
Mr. Gatti and Ms. Santana managed to make technical feats that would have been astounding from much more experienced virtuoso performers look like the purest and most honest ballet dancing. The tricks were all there — dazzling multiple turns, most of all — but they were delivered with a lack of affectation and with seamless, fluid finishes that made rare artistry of the gimmicks.
The men tended to outdance the women this year. (No women's junior gold medal was awarded.) One exception was Sasha De Sola, the 16-year-old winner of the Junior Best Couple Award, with her fellow American Mathias Dingman as her partner, who brought an intriguing delicacy to steely bravura dancing in the pas de deux from "Flames of Paris." Jurgita Dronina (senior silver, Lithuania) stood out for the stylishness of her dancing in an excerpt from the "Sleeping Beauty" grand pas de deux.
But even more impressive was the easy virtuosity of the male medalists, among them Jeffrey Cirio (junior bronze, United States); Masayoshi Onuki (senior bronze, United States); Isaac Hernandez (junior gold, Mexico); and Brooklyn Mack (senior silver, United States).
Another reassuring sign was the performance by Daniil Simkin, a 19-year-old German senior gold medalist, an audience favorite and the winner of the TutusDivine Award, who made something almost charming of "Les Bourgeois," a coy solo choreographed by Ben Van Cauwenbergh to music by Jacques Brel.
The contemporary choreography was lackluster, with the exception of "September," created by Ben Lida, who won an award for the witty piece, danced by Yui Yonezawa (senior bronze, Japan), and Georgi Smilevski.
The medalists also included Christine Shevchenko (junior bronze, United States); Denys Cherevychko (junior silver, Ukraine); Sae-Eun Park (junior silver, South Korea); and Kayo Sasabe (junior bronze, Japan). The award for best senior couple was given to Davit Karapetyan of Armenia and Vanessa Zahorian, his noncompeting partner.
For the record, Japan and the United States tied for the most medals (four each), with one each going to Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Ukraine and South Korea.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
The New york times
The award for best senior couple was given to Davit Karapetyan of Armenia and Vanessa Zahorian.
JACKSON, Miss., July 2 — The cream of Jackson society was at Thalia Mara Hall on Saturday night for the Olympic-style awarding of medals to the winners of the eighth USA International Ballet Competition.
Adiarys Almeida Santana, from Cuba, and Joseph Michael Gatti, from the United States, at the USA International Ballet Competition.
Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, stood up from the audience for a bow and stayed until the end of the gala event. A starting field of 121 dancers from 27 countries had been narrowed to 13 medalists from 8 nations, with fans muttering about who had been "robbed," and ballet students screaming for their favorites. There were corporate prizes like that from Tutu.com and the TutusDivine Awards in addition to medals and other honors. Twenty-seven years after its promising but rather down-home start, the Jackson competition has clearly arrived.
It all began in 1975 when Ms. Mara, a dance writer and teacher who died in 2003, was invited to Jackson to develop professional ballet in the city. There were then no other international competitions in America. Jackson was far from being a major dance city, and besides, it was so very hot there in the summer.
But Ms. Mara brought in big ballet guns like Robert Joffrey, who had a lot of experience with ballet contests throughout the world. The city went into full-gear Southern hospitality mode. Today the event, held every four years, is one of six major international ballet contests around the world, including the biannual New York International Ballet Competition. Ten of the 13 junior (15 to 18 years old) and senior (19 to 26) medalists had won honors in at least two other international competitions.
American competitions now lure the subculture of professional contestants. A performance of the "Black Swan" pas de deux from "Swan Lake," danced by Misa Kuranaga of Japan, who won the senior gold medal, and Daniel Sarabia (both of the Boston Ballet), was so coolly polished that it looked out of place in a competition program.
But something surprising happened on Saturday night. The two demons of international competitions — hard-sell bravura dancing and flirtatious contemporary ballet solos for male competitors — were much less in evidence. And the highlight of the gala, which rightly drew the cheering audience to its feet in the evening's only standing ovation, was an astonishing performance of the pas de deux from "Le Corsaire" by Joseph Michael Gatti, a senior bronze medalist from the United States, and Adiarys Almeida Santana, a Cuban finalist, both in their early 20's and soloists at the Cincinnati Ballet.
Mr. Gatti and Ms. Santana managed to make technical feats that would have been astounding from much more experienced virtuoso performers look like the purest and most honest ballet dancing. The tricks were all there — dazzling multiple turns, most of all — but they were delivered with a lack of affectation and with seamless, fluid finishes that made rare artistry of the gimmicks.
The men tended to outdance the women this year. (No women's junior gold medal was awarded.) One exception was Sasha De Sola, the 16-year-old winner of the Junior Best Couple Award, with her fellow American Mathias Dingman as her partner, who brought an intriguing delicacy to steely bravura dancing in the pas de deux from "Flames of Paris." Jurgita Dronina (senior silver, Lithuania) stood out for the stylishness of her dancing in an excerpt from the "Sleeping Beauty" grand pas de deux.
But even more impressive was the easy virtuosity of the male medalists, among them Jeffrey Cirio (junior bronze, United States); Masayoshi Onuki (senior bronze, United States); Isaac Hernandez (junior gold, Mexico); and Brooklyn Mack (senior silver, United States).
Another reassuring sign was the performance by Daniil Simkin, a 19-year-old German senior gold medalist, an audience favorite and the winner of the TutusDivine Award, who made something almost charming of "Les Bourgeois," a coy solo choreographed by Ben Van Cauwenbergh to music by Jacques Brel.
The contemporary choreography was lackluster, with the exception of "September," created by Ben Lida, who won an award for the witty piece, danced by Yui Yonezawa (senior bronze, Japan), and Georgi Smilevski.
The medalists also included Christine Shevchenko (junior bronze, United States); Denys Cherevychko (junior silver, Ukraine); Sae-Eun Park (junior silver, South Korea); and Kayo Sasabe (junior bronze, Japan). The award for best senior couple was given to Davit Karapetyan of Armenia and Vanessa Zahorian, his noncompeting partner.
For the record, Japan and the United States tied for the most medals (four each), with one each going to Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Ukraine and South Korea.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:21 AM
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