I want send out a wonderful congratulations to all the winners and particiapents of the Helsinki IBC.

Here is a link to the list of winners....

http://www.balcomphel.fi/press/press-relea...66-winners.html

Many thanks for the link, robinmc!

Meaghan Hinkis, the 3rd Prize winner, is a member of ABT2.Congratulations to her and other American winners Jeffrey Cirio, Brooklyn Mack and Lonnie Weeks.

I was glad to see the young man I noticed at the Pestov gala, Maxime Quiroga, came in third. I hope we see more of him!

Is Avetik Karapetyan (tied with Brooklyn Mack for second in Senior Men) related to Davit Karapetyan from San Francisco Ballet?

Congratulations to all the US winners!
Jeffrey Cirio is the son of one of the posters on our sister board, Ballet talk for dancers. His mother, its the mom, is to be congratulated for raising two successful dancers, Jeffrey and his older sister Lia Cirio, formerly a soloist with Boston Ballet and now dancing with the Trey McIntyre Project.
This seems to be Jeffrey's year of first prizes. He also won the Grand Prix at YAGP in April.

Thanks, Marga. What an honor for Jeffrey. He is thrilled. He is also very excited to return to Boston with his sister in the fall. Many beautiful competitors here in Helsinki. The USA was well represented. Meaghan is beautiful and strong, Lonnie is elegant, and Brooklyn was exciting, as usual. There were other Americans who didn't medal, but fabulous nonetheless. Leigh, Maxime was one of our favorites. He will be dancing at Royal Ballet of Flanders next season.

Thanks to the link of winners...WOW for China, continuing its amazing climb to balletic stratosphere (as are Koreans in other competitions, such as NYIBC).

Chinese laureates in this recent Helsinki competitions include the top-top winner:

The Gloria Grand Prix, 12 000 euros, was awarded to 21 year old Xiaoyu He, who was competing in senior division. He has graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy and is currently a Member of corps de ballet of the National Ballet of China.

and...

The Chinese Dancers won the two first Placements of Senior Ladies Category. The First Prize was awarded to Haijing Jao and the second Prize went to Hong Yu Guo.

No Russians? Well, they must all be at the Moscow IBC, which is happening at the same time.

I hope you are going to give us reports on the Moscow IBC.

And congrats to you for being such a great mom and supporter. It's alway so much fun to see Jeffrey dance and to see how enthusiastic you are. Best to you both and the unsung brother who gets to play video games in the background. Wally