The 2008 Varna ballet competition has started this week. Anyone knows of American contestants in the competition? Natalia?

My son was with Brooklyn Mack this past weekend in Jackson. Brooklyn was leaving Jackson and headed for Varna. Anxious to hear news.

Thank you for starting this thread. I realized the other day that the competition was this week, there didn't seem to be anything on the Varna IBC website - hopefully we'll hear some news shortly!


m2

I know another young man, Douglas Home, from Studio Maestro who is also competing. I believe he is being coached by Johann Renvall.

I believe Shea Johnson is also competing. He is a member of Metropolitan Classical Ballet in Arlington, Texas.

Tarasina Masi, 19, from USA Ballet Academy, Bloomington, Minn.
From the Varna site:
PROGRAM:
July 15th Opening ceremony
Beginning of the First Round
July, 15th,
16th, 17th,
18th and 19th First Round
Classical choreography from the obligatory programme
July 20th Meeting with the art of famous names of the Competition
Annotations and films
July 21st, 22nd,
23rd and 24th Second Round
Classical and contemporary choreography
July 25th Super - gala concert of former laureates
July 26th
and 27th Third Round
Contemporary and classical choreography
July 28th International symposium
July 29th Awarding of prizes, Gala concert of laureates and closing
of the Competition
July 30th Super Gala Concert „Meeting of Generations“ with the participation
also of laureates of previous issues of the Competition

Varna is infamously umwilling to post any up to date results on their website, so we hope that someone in the know will post here as soon as anything is official?

Thanks all

Steven

Whitney Jensen is competing...from Valentina Kozlova's DCNY. Good luck to all who is competing!

Dancers in the finals (3rd round):

Juniors
Telmo Higino Gomes Moreira, Portugal
Whitney Jensen, USA
Xiao Dong Ma, China
Osiel Vladimir Gouneu Martinez, Cuba
Youn Sik Kim, Korea
Fumi kaneko, Japan
Dmitrij Zagrebin, Russia
Eun Won Lee, Korea

Seniors
Doszhan Tabyldy, Kazakhstan
Yi Huang, China
Sang Eun Lee, Korea
Jeon Il Yoon, Korea
Yudai Fukuoka, Japan
Christina Terentiev, Moldova
Seo Hye Han, Korea
Yu Zheng, China
Rodrigo Almarales Gonzales, Cuba
Jialing Shi, China
Junlong Huang, China
Na Eun Kim, Korea

The finals are taking place on July 26 and 27. Good luck to everyone.

Arriba Osiel and Rodrigo!!!

Daniil,

Thanks for posting the list of the finalists. Would you (or anyone) happen to know who the judges are this year?

Last I heard, I believe the chief jury is Vladimir Vasiliev.

Some interesting information on the competition:

COMPETITION PROGRAMME FIRST ROUND

- Classical choreographyCompetitors perform, at their own choice, one pas de deux (adagio, variation andcoda) or two variations from the obligatory repertoire listed below:

ADAM"Giselle" - Variation of Giselle, Act IChor. Petipa, music Minkus- Pas de deux, Act IChor. Perrot,Coralli, Petipa- Entree and variation of Myrtha, Act IIChor. Perrot, Coralli, Petipa- Grand pas de deux of Giselle and Albert, Act IIChor. Perrot, Coralli, Petipa
DRIGO- "Le Corsaire" - Pas de deux of Medora and the Slave, Act IChor. Petipa, - Pas de deux of the Slave Girl and the Merchant, Act II,Chor. Petipa
ARMSHEIMER"The Cavalry Camp" - Pas de deux of Maria and PeterChor. Petipa
ASSAFYEV"The Flames of Paris" - Pas de deux, Chor. Vainonen
GLAZOUNOV"Raymonda" - Grand pas de deux of Raymonda and deBrienne, Act III, Chor. Petipa
DELIBES"Coppelia" - Pas de deux of Swanilda and Franz, Act IIChor. Saint -Leon, Petipa
DRIGO"Esmeralda" - Pas de deux of Diana and ActeonChor. Vaganova
LOEVENSKJOLD "La Sylphide" (Sylphiden) - Variations from the pas de deuxChor. Bournonville
MINKUS"La Bayadere" - Pas de deux of Nikia and Solor, Act IIChor. Petipa- Three variations of the Shades, Act III Chor. Petipa (each variationis a separate entry)
MINKUS"Don Quixote" - Grand pas de deux of Quitry and Basil, Act IV, Chor. Petipa, Gorsky- Variation of Quitry, Act I, Chor. Petipa- Variation of the Mistress of the Driads, Chor. Petipa
"Paquita" - Variations from the pas de trois, Chor. Petipa- Variations from the Grand pas, Chor. Petipa (each variation to be performed as an independent one)
AUBER"Classical Pas de Deux", Chor. V. Gsovsky PAULLI"Napoli" - Variations, Chor. Bournonville
"The Kermis in Bruges" - Pas de deux, Chor. Bournonville
PUGNI"Satanila" - Pas de deux, Chor. Petipa
HELSTED"Festival of the Flowers in Genzano" - Pas de deuxChor. BournonvilleHERTEL"La Fille mal gardee" - Pas de deux of Lisa and Colin,Act II, Chor. Petipa, Gorsky
TCHAIKOVSKY"Swan Lake" - Adagio of Odette and Siegfried and variationof Odette, Act II (only ballerinas can compete), Chor. Lev Ivanov- Variation from pas de trois, Act I, Chor. Petipa- Pas de deux of Odile and Siegfried,Act III, Chor. Petipa
"The Sleeping Beauty" - Variation of Lilac Fairy, Act I, Chor. Petipa and Lopukhov- Variation of Aurora, Act I, Chor. Petipa- Variation of Prince Charming (Desire), Act II,- Chor. Petipa- Variation of Lilac Fairy, Act III, Chor.Petipa-Lopukhov- Pas de deux of Florina and the Blue Bird, Act III,- Chor. Petipa- Pas de deux of Aurora and Desire, Act III,- Chor. Petipa, Sergeev
"The Nutcracker" - Pas de deux of Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince, Act II, Chor. Vainonen

Note: They use the Vainonen version of the Nutcracker...

So many Koreans... 6 out of 20... 5 Chinese, but then it's a bigger country...

What gives? Is it because it's a competition and this resonates in Korea or is there a big ballet movement going on there?

They are all from Korea National University of the Arts. KNUA is a famous arts university, of which, one of the intense focus areas is ballet. They have an elementary program for ages 9-19 that uses the same campus and some of the faculty. The dance program is located within the Seoul Arts Center campus. If you look at the winners of Prix de Lausanne, IBC NY and Jackson, Varna and Premio Roma, you will find they are from KNUA. Some of the excellent participants from KNUA this year at Varna, are not on the finals list. Hae Shik Kim, recently retired, was the Director of the ballet school and is well known in the ballet community. Sun hee Kim, the present Director also has an excellent reputation and is a gifted choreographer. KNUA graduates are in ballet companies all over the world.

Well I think it's also a general wave and trend since Asia is becoming an increasingly strong player politically and economically on the global scene, particularly China.

There is a LONG history of ballet in both Japan and China from the earlier 20th century, although Korea might be more recent. However they didnt garner much international attention, particularly due to the lack of world-class ballet companies in these countries. That is however changing.

There have been a few famous Asians artists in the late 20th C, including Yoko Morishita, Miyako Yoshida, Tetsuya Kumakawa, and Sue-Jing Kang, who truly made it. I'm sure there will be more starting now.

From the official announcement (in Bulgarian):
http://www.vlastta.com/nivo1.php?id1=&...i&sluchai=1

With the help of Google Bulgarian translator (please forgive spelling):

Group A (Senior):
Women:
Gold: Kristina Terentiev, Moldavia
*Silver: Seo Hie Han, Korea
Bronz: Sang Eun Lee, Korea
Men:
Gold: Yue Zhang, China
Silver: Yi Huang, China
Bronz: Yuday Fukuoka, Japan and Rodrigo Almerales Gonzales, Cuba

Group B (Junior):
Special Prix (I think this might be what Ivan Vasiliev won in 2006, but not sure): Whitney Jensen, USA
Women:
Gold: Fumi Kaneko, Japan
Silver: none
*Bronz: Eun Wong Lee, Korea
Men:
Gold: none
Silver: Osiel Gouneo Martinez, Cuba
Bronz: Xiao Dong Ma, China and Dimitry Zagrebin, Russia

*these were especially challenging to translate, so... the best I could do.

Numerous other awards were given.

Bravo for los cubanitos ! (I knew they had to take some metal home.. , so Silver Junior for Osiel and Bronze Senior for Rodrigo)
Not bad at all...

Going to Varna's site list for 2006 winners:


This is exactly the full translation of Whitney Jensen's award this year. I find it amazing that this has not been seen as "news" (at least as findable via Google news search) in America! She is from Valentina Kozlova's school in New York City. Congratulations to her! And I hope she'll eventually get some extremely deserved publicity in her own country, or city (wake up, New York Times).

In addition to the above-mentioned award, she was also awarded a"bronze statuette for her performance in the classical repertoire".

I'm a bit confused. In another site, it says that there was NO GRAND PRIX for JUNIORS (as well as seniors) this year.

Does the SPECIAL Prix/Distinction stand in between the Junior GRAND PRIX and the Junior Woman's GOLD MEDAL (received by Fumi Kaneko)?

(That is, in terms of points achieved, highest is Grand Prix, 2nd is Special Prix, and 3rd is Gold?)

The prize won by Ms. Jensen stands above Junior Gold. From Varna site, it is the same Special Distinction won by Mr. Vasiliev at Varna two years ago. Not only is Varna's wording the same for the two dancers, but major forums in France and in Russia are announcing it as such for Ms. Jensen.
So both won Special Distinction. However,looking back to 2006 results at Varna's site you are right in that in full 2006:


But for Ms. Jensen Google translator gives:

Here are photos of the Awards Ceremony:
http://sportnitanci.com/webga/thumbnails-1903-page-4.html
I do not know Ms. Jensen personally, nor have I seen her dance, but the blonde in the blue tutu receiving a trophy from Vladimir Vasiliev looks extremely like prior photos of Ms. Jensen (and I believe she was the only blonde winner). The same dancer appears on clickable sets (as numbered at page bottom) 8, 10 (bearing the torch and setting the eternal flame), and 11.
Can anyone confirm her identity? The site tends not to ID subjects.

At the top of the page one may connect to other photos from the competition.

Varna IBC may be terrible at communication, but they sure know how to cap off an event!

I have not seen her either ,except in videos in you-know-where-site, but that blonde seems to be her. She looks very tall.I hope this won't be a problem in the ballet company that she will eventually join.

Yes, that's Whitney Jensen. I believe the dancer in the next set of photos is Cristina Terentieva.

Hi! Love reading the board, always so much fabulous info. Just wondering in reference to the above: I have seen that just today, it was announced on the Kozlova school website that Whitney Jensen was awarded the Grand Prix. It can be found at www.vkdcny.com. According to the posts here on Ballet Talk, Ms. Jensen did not receive the grand prix, but according to the vkdcny website she did. I got confused again. If I read the list of awards, I would take it to mean that she received the lower award of Special Prix and that the Laureate/Grand Prix was not actually awarded to anyone. But perhaps I am just confused or didn't understand right. They have announced it in two separate places on their website: on the banner running across the top and on the link for Awards and Honors. Maybe someone over here can clear this up!

The highest of all awards (Grand Prix) has been awarded just twice. At the Senior level to Vladimir Vasiliev at the first Varna competition and then at the Junior level to Ivan Vasiliev (no relation) at 22nd (the one before the current competition). However Ms. Jensen's award is still very special, above a Junior Gold, and her significance was made very obvious at the Awards Ceremony (see photos above).
Varna is notorious for its lack of information. But in addition to their official site (in Bulgarian, so with help of translator), reports in the Bulgarian press as well as from France and Russia (of course nothing in her own country's media) that I have read all agree.

Added for (hopefully) clarification at 12:39 AM: The history of the Varna IBC is covered in great detail in "Varna Ballet Olympiad" by John Gregory, even acknowledged on the competition's site. This book covers the years 1964-1980. Terminology seems to have varied during that time, as well as since. They have always considered Juniors and Seniors separately. At the Senior level there have always been Gold, Silver, and Bronz awards. But early on a high percentage of competitors received medals: at the first 5 Gold, 9 Silver, 7 Bronz (plus Mr. Vasiliev's "Grand Prix and Gold"). Over time this dilution has faded away. At the Junior level technically (although we in the west have identified these in terms of metal as well) the corresponding awards have been First, Second, and Third Class Distinctions. At least through the years covered by the book no Junior had received "Special Distinction", the still higher award given to Ivan Vasiliev in 2006 and to Whitney Jensen in 2008 (I do not know about the other years since 1980). In current Varna terminology "Laureate of (number) IBC" appears to be their term for Grand Prix, and two years ago it was reported that Ivan Vasiliev was the first ever to win this at the Junior level (and even their current site says Vladimir Vasiliev is still the only such winner at the Senior level).

WARNING: I tried to open the website of Ms. Kozlova's school, http://vkdcny.com , and it caused two of my browsers to malfunction. Thunderbird closed twice and AOL froze twice.

If others have had better luck opening the website, please let us know.

I went again to see if it still opened or made me freeze and it worked. I used internet explorer, which is pretty much what I use for everything. If you google her school or Mme Kozlova herself, that link comes up as the school website.

Golly, that is as good as a ballet history lesson. Thank you! Will go to the Dance Library to look up that book next time I can visit NYC. Much thanks again.

The actual address is http://www.vkdcny.com. I don't know if the omission of www makes any difference? I just saw that you didn't have the www, maybe that has something to do with it. I took note of the address in the address bar when I went a second time since I saw your post about the freezing.

Thanks, toasteroven, but the "www." didn't fix it for me. Even with Internet Explorer. It just took a few seconds longer to close IE.

Welcome to Ballet Talk.

I'm able to reach the site using toasteroven's link.

Ms. Kozlova is quite glam.

Thank you, glad to be here! I saw that Helene got to the website and said that Mme Kozlova is "quite glam." That's true! Very nice pic/headshot of her on the home page and she looked pretty chic in the Awards page picture also. She was always a very beautiful and striking lady, whenever I saw her dancing in past years. A lot of presence and charisma.

Many more photos are being added to the official photo site:
http://sportnitanci.com/webga/index-757.html
Included are American dancers (with number of photos posted so far in parens):
Erica Wong (19)
Tarasina Masi (25)
Douglas Home (12)
Shea Johnson (52)
Brooklyn Mack (23)
Rebecca King (15)
I would not be surprised to find more to come.

Special Distinction and trophy winner Whitney Jensen appears in 43 photos (so far) from Esmeralda, with partner Albert Davydov, here:
http://sportnitanci.com/webga/thumbnails-1924.html

Is it me or do Whitney Jensen's legs and feet never seem to straighten? That's a special distinction winner?? wow

If you check out Whitney's YouTube clips (there are three), you may realize how much a good photograph depends on the photographer's timing. I think this photographer needs to sharpen his, at least for ballet.

I don't know in my opinion if you can only look ok in about 1 out of 43 photos, then there is something wrong....you can even see it in the videos

YAGP has given an official winners list for Varna 2008, including the "non-medal" prizes:
http://www.yagp.org/eng/news.asp
From this it seems that the photos-list of Americans above is complete.
Am I right in assuming that "promising" Alexandra Mukhamedov is daughter of THE Mukhamedov?
Also "HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CLASSICAL WORK" for Ms. Jensen.

Yes

FINALLY! An American newspaper becomes aware of Whitney Jensen's Varna achievement. Her home state newspaper offers a feature on the dancer (they make the "Grand Prix" error for the "Special Distinction" award, we've been through all that earlier on this thread, but at least they knew!):
http://www.sltrib.com/arts/ci_10284858

ABT, should we blame the negligence of the NY Times for your missing this one???

An article* in today's Deseret News offers more information on Junior Special Distinction winner Whitney Jensen. While lumping the terms Special Distinction and Grand Prix (as seen earlier in this thread, both applied in 2006 to Ivan Vasliev, but just the former to Ms. Jensen), the article does give information on the rarity of the Special Distinction award:

For the competition she was prepared by her teacher Valentina Koslova:

She has entered and won prizes in a number of competitions:

There is a nice four photo set of the dancer included in the article.

* http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700256501,00.html

Too bad we won't be able to see her dance in NYC.

I found it interesting that according to the article, "her mother, Lausanne, directed Dance Corp Esprit. Her two sisters, Sarah Jayne Jensen and Bryn Dowling, are Broadway veterans." That plus Jensen's goal of dancing in Europe makes a lot of sense of Lausanne Jensen's comment, "We looked at all the big schools and weren't impressed...But when we met Valentina, I knew she was the one for Whitney".

I would think that a family that has its own tradition of other types of dance, and a child with a goal to join a European company, would be particularly open to finding a teacher with European/Russian training outside the US company "feeder" schools, someone who would be a mentor to their daughter. It looks like this strategy worked!

Very smart of Hungarian National Ballet to make an offer which has not yet been accepted, according to the official news we've seen so far. Other European companies could try to steal Budapest's thunder.

sorry for being off topic a bit - Albert Davydov dances with NJ Ballet, and the NJ ballet-mistress, Luba Gulyaeva assisted Valentina Kozlova in "molding" Whitney.
To some other poster - i did hear "not-possitive" remarks of Whitney's legs, but her artistry and properly picked choreography managed to "mask/ make-up" for it (and don't start the list of Dancers with "imperfect" legs who have the DIVA/STAR lapel on their sholder ;_))

The English language version is now on Varna's website and contradicts the original Bulgarian release reported earlier on this thread and also Russian and French reports at the time. It appears Ms. Jensen's awards are the SAME as Ivan Vasiliev's two years before! She also received the "Varna 2008 Laureate," that had been previously reported as not given. Brava!!!


http://www.varna-ibc.org/

In the original Bulgarian release (July 31 above) Mr. Vasiliev's had differed from Ms. Jensen's:


But for Ms. Jensen Google translator gave: