8th Annual VALENTINA KOZLOVA INTERNATIONAL BALLET  COMPETITION Comes to Symphony Space This Month

The 8th annual Kozlova International Ballet Competition will take place March 26-30 at Symphony Space, NYC. More than 100 dancers from around the world, from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, USA, and Venezuela will gather in NYC to dance for scholarships to international schools, company contracts, and other awards before a distinguished jury led by Andris Liepa, former principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet and guest with ABT, NYCB, and other international companies.

The season will be dedicated to the memory Rudolf Nureyev on this 80th anniversary of his birth. Nureyev guested with New York City Ballet, appearing in Balanchine's Orpheus, in 1988, during Kozlova's thirteen years as principal dancer with the Company.

A highlight of this year's VKIBC will be two compulsory solos from Serge Lifar's 1943 "Suite en Blanc" - La Cigarette" for women and "Mazurka" for men. The dances have been staged by returning jury member Charles Jude, who performed the ballet many times as a former etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet. Dancers will learn the solos from video and will receive individual coaching once in New York from Mr. Jude, who is a trustee of both the Nureyev and Lifar Foundations.

Past awards have included company contracts with the Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina. Among the many scholarships awarded were one full and one partial scholarship to the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg, dancers selected by Nikolai Tsiskaridze; the Accademia Internazionale Coreutica in Italy; the Boston Ballet School; the Brussels International Ballet School in Belgium; the Cincinnati Ballet; Conservatoire National Superieur de musique et de danse de Paris; K-Arts in South Korea; Le Atelier Loft in Switzerland; Munich National Conservatoire in Germany; Tulsa Ballet; and Kozlova's NYC school and her Summer Intensive in Spain. Several dancers were invited to appear in Galas around the world, including the Gala Rudolph Nureyev Moscow Gala in March 2017; the Riga National Gala in August 2017; and the Corporea in the State of Mexico.
Valentina Kozlova, born in Moscow and trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School, joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1973 and was promoted to Principal Dancer two years later. She danced all the major classical roles and, in fact, was the youngest dancer at the time to perform Juliet. In 1979, while touring the U.S. with the Bolshoi, Kozlova defected. She had already performed in Western Europe and the U.S, and was intrigued by what she saw. Her quest for artistic freedom and growth led her to seek a career that would offer new roles by western contemporary choreographers. She was immediately in demand internationally, and guested with companies around the world. She made her Broadway debut as Vera Baronova in a revival of "On Your Toes," learning the role from its original creators, George Abbott and George Balanchine. At Balanchine's invitation, Kozlova subsequently joined New York City Ballet as a principal., dancing with the Company from 1983-95. During that time she enjoyed a triumphant return to Moscow, with NBC News covering her performances at the Kremlin Palace.
Kozlova and colleague Margo Sappington founded their own company, Ballet: The Daring Project, which played three seasons at the Joyce and toured to Italy. She also appeared in "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden with Tony Randall and Ben Vereen.
In 2003, Kozlova opened her dance conservatory, located in midtown New York, a professional school that provides students with Kozlova's training method that combines the Vaganova and Balanchine techniques. A popular judge and coach for competitions around the world, Kozlova founded her own Competition in 2011. Many of the entrants from around the world have received company contracts and scholarships, including to the Vaganova Academy in St. Petersburg.

JUDGES:
ANDRIS LIEPA (Russia), Chairman of the Judges, former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, guest with American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet, co-founder of the Maris Liepa Charity Fund PATRICIA AULESTIA DE ALBA (Mexico), former principal dancer, founder/director of Ballet Nacional Ecuatoriano
NINA ANANIASHVILI (Georgia), internationally renowned ballerina, artistic director of State Ballet of Georgia
IVAN CAVALLARI (Italy), Artistic Director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

MI SOOK JEON (South Korea), international dance educator and choreographer CHARLES JUDE (France), former etoile Paris Opera Ballet, former director Ballet de l'Opera de Bordeaux, trustee for Nureyev and Lifar Foundations

SUN HEE KIM (South Korea), Dean, Korea National University of Arts School of Dance CAROLINE LLORCA (Germany), Ballet Professor, University of Performing Arts, Munich

Victoria Morgan (USA), Artistic Director and CEO, Cincinnati Ballet

MIKKO NISSINEN (Finland), Artistic Director, Boston Ballet

TURSYNBEK NURKALIYEV (Kazakhstan), Ballet Director, State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Astana

RADENKO PAVLOVICH (USA), Artistic Director, Columbia Classical Ballet

ANDERSON SANTANA (Belgium), Brazilian founder/artistic director of Brussels International Ballet School

OLGA GUARDIA DE SMOAK (Panama), President of the New Orleans International Ballet Conference

SERGEI SOLOVIEV (Russia), Teacher, Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse

NIKOLAI TSISKARIDZE (Russia), Rector of Vaganova Ballet Academy, St. Petersburg

CARLOS VALCARCEL (UK), Director of Dance Designate of English National Ballet

VKIBC is officially supported by the Lifar and Nureyev Foundations.

For more information, please visit www.vkibc.org Kozlova International Ballet Competition 250 West 54 Street New York NY 10019, USA 212.245.0050 info@vkibc.org