VKIBC Announces The Judges For 2020, Celebrating VKIBC's 10th Anniversary

Valentina Kozlova announces the 10th annual Kozlova International Ballet Competition, hosting 100+ dancers from around the world. Once again, one day will be set aside for both performers and choreographers of contemporary dance, who will also compete for company contracts and scholarships to dance academies around the world.
This year's event is a major celebration of two events: the 10th Anniversary of VKIBC, and the 40th Anniversary of the defection from the Bolshoi Ballet of Valentina Kozlova and Leonid Kozlov, who will be reunited on stage in a Gala Performance Thursday March 19th, with guest appearances by past VKIBC winners, including Brooklyn Mack.

• CHARLES JUDE (France), CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY Former etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and Artistic Director of the Ballet de L'Opera de Bordeaux
• MIKKO NISSINEN (USA), HONORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY Artistic Director, Boston Ballet
• PATRICIA AULESTIA DE ALBA (Mexico) Former principal dancer, founder/director of Ballet Nacional Ecuatoriano
• NINA BUISSON (France) Contemporary Dance Master Teacher
• VALENTIN ELIZARIEU (Belarus) Artistic Director, Bolshoi Theater of Belarus
• OLGA GUARDIA de SMOAK (Panama) President of New Orleans International Ballet Conference
• SUN HEE KIM (South Korea) Dean, School of Dance, Korea National University of Arts
• JEFFREY HUGHES (USA) Artistic Director, Tucson Regional Ballet
• MI SOOK JEON (South Korea) International choreographer and dance educator
• REGINA KAUPUZA (Latvia) Artistic Director, Riga Choreography School
• KONSTANTIN KOSTIJUKOV (Serbia) Ballet Manager, National Theatre of Belgrade
• AIVARS LEIMANIS (Latvia) Artistic Director, Latvian National Ballet Company
• PAUL McRAE (USA) Assistant Director, New Jersey Ballet
• BRENDA NEVILLE (USA) International choreographer for ballet companies and musical theater
• MELANIE PERSON (USA) Co-director, with Tracy Inman. of the Ailey School, NYC
• RADENKO PAVLOVICH (USA) Artistic Director, Columbia Classical Ballet
• MICHAEL PINK (USA) Artistic Director, Milwaukee Ballet
• RICARDO SCHEIR (Brazil) Former Artistic Director, Sao Jose dos Campos Dance Company
• SERGEI SOLOVIEV (Russia) Teacher, Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris
• TAMAS SOLYMOSI (Hungary) Artistic Director, Hungarian National Ballet
• NIKOLAI TSISKARIDZE (Russia) Former Bolshoi Ballet principal, currently Rector, Vaganova Ballet Academy

For full bios of the judges, please visit www.vkibc.org