Bolshoi Ballet – Landgraf on Dance

10. July 2026

Stellar

XV International Ballet Competition—Laureates’ Gala
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
July 05, 2026 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

After three rounds of competition in ten days, the XV International Ballet Competition’s jury awarded medals, certificates, and diplomas to 50 of 131 contestants. Due to the high standards, discussions to determine the laureates continued late into the night after the final round. A laureates’ gala concert concluded the competition.

Of the seven gold medals, three were awarded to competitors from the USA and the Republic of Korea and one to a Japanese dancer. Russian dancers received seventeen prizes, Chinese six, and Mongolians four. Western Europe wasn’t represented, and only a few dancers from Central Europe scored: the Swede Auguste Marmus (bronze medal men, duet), coryphée and, as of late, Kammertänzer of the Hungarian National Ballet, the Serb Jana Zimonjic (bronze medal women, solo), and the Slovene Vid Vogrin (silver medal boys, duet). What mattered, though, wasn’t nationality but talent.

Vogrin, for example, just graduated from Moscow’s State Academy of Choreography and will join the Bolshoi Ballet. Two of the USA’s gold medalists, Yana Peneva and Alexei Orohovsky, graduated from Stuttgart’s John Cranko School in 2024 and 2025, respectively, and joined the Mariinsky Ballet as second soloists in 2025. They competed together in the junior duet category and earned an especially remarkable victory, as Orohovsky had injured his foot before round III but went on to perform impeccably. He received his gold medal on crutches.
In the laureates’ gala, Ryoma Hudzeleu, the Japanese gold medalist (men, solo) mentioned above, replaced him as Basil alongside Peneva’s Kitri in a fabulous pas de deux from Don Quixote. As it happens, Hudzeleu is also a 2025 graduate of the John Cranko School and joined the Mariinsky as a second soloist right away. All three testify to the high standard of the Cranko School under Tadeusz Matacz’s directorship (who stepped down in 2025) as well as the appeal of Russian companies.

The third U.S. gold medalist (girls, solo), Crystal Huang, was the only one who performed twice at the gala. Only seventeen years old, Huang danced Esmeralda’s variation from La Esmeralda and her own contemporary choreography, Hypnosis Waltz, which resembles an acrobatic, resolute struggle against invisible forces. The piece was, like some others, created for the competition. Huang has technique, clean lines, musicality, temperament, and individuality, but what thrilled me most was that she seemed to be dance incarnate.

I admired the self-assurance of the not-yet-sixteen-year-old Korean Pak Kunbyulbit, gold medalist (boys, solo), whose Jean de Brienne sailed flawlessly through an excerpt of Grigorovich’s Raymonda. His compatriots, Minjin Kim and Kangwon Lee, won gold in the duet category. Watching their Grand Pas Classique by Victor Gsovsky, I thought of what Andrian Fadeeyev said is most important to him as a juror: good taste. That’s what Kim and Lee displayed. The cleanliness and harmony of their lines and the level of perfection were amazing. Most striking, though, was the absence of any visible strain.

Unfazed by its many intricate lifts, the Chinese Yikun Zhang (silver medal women, duet) and Zhangfeng Wang (prize and diploma for partnership in the Senior category) infused Grigorovich’s balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet with emotion. Verona’s velvety night could be felt even on screen.

Of the gala’s many top-notch performances, Andrey Grachev (Russia, bronze medal boys, solo) showcased his powerful jumps in Actaeon’s variation from La Esmeralda, Dulguun Batbold (Mongolia, bronze medal boys, duet) soared high as the Wind God in a variation from The Talisman, and Viktoria Sokolova (Russia, silver medal girls, solo) generously spread her grace as Aurora. The dreamlike pirouettes of Sakura Nagai in a variation from Petipa’s La Halte de cavalerie were akin to swirling cherry petals, reminding me of her home country, Japan.
Elisey Volkov (Russia, silver medal boys, solo) gave Bournonville’s never-ending series of jumps weightlessness and ease, as did Alexander Dmitriev (Russia, silver medal boys, duet) and the Bolshoi Ballet’s Sofia Maymula (prize and diploma for partnership in the Junior category) in their pas de deux from The Flower Festival in Genzano. It combined nimble feet, butterfly-like lightness, filigree details, and a clean style. The Japanese Denis Watanabe’s (silver medal boys, solo) Philippe from The Flowers of Paris had brio, Razmik Marukyan (Armenia, bronze medal men, solo) was a mighty Ferkhad (the male love interest in Grigorovich’s A Legend of Love), and Dmitry Sobolev, a first soloist of the Leonid Jacobson Ballet St. Petersburg, who also won the bronze medal in the men’s solo category, made Colin from La Fille mal gardée very likable.

The level of professionalism extended to Tatyana Gevorkyan and Nikolay Rastvortsev, who hosted the awards ceremony and the laureates’ gala. As before, the Bolshoi Ballet’s Ana Turazashvili and Gennady Yanin presented the live streams and conducted interviews during the break. Alexei Bogorad was at the conductor’s podium of the Bolshoi Theatre’s Symphony Orchestra.

Links:		Website of the International Ballet Competition
		Website of the Bolshoi Theatre
		International Ballet Competition—video archive
Photos:	1.	Laureates, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	2.	Kunbyulbit Pak (Republic of Korea) and Sun Hee Kim, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	3.	Anar Uyen (Mongolia) and Lili Xin, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	4.	Jana Zimonjic (Serbia) and Tan Sağtürk, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	5.	Kangwon Lee (Republic of Korea) and Gulzhan Tutkibayeva, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	6.	Ryoma Hudzeleu (Japan) and Svetlana Zakharova, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	7.	Kunbyulbit Pak, Minjin Kim, Sun Hee Kim, and Kangwon Lee (Republic of Korea), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	8.	Rachel Pimentel Quintao and Auguste Marmus (Hungary), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	9.	Egor Arkhipov (Russia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	10.	Sakura Nagai (Japan), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	11.	Andrey Grachev (Russia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	12.	Elisey Volkov (Russia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	13.	Viktoria Sokolova (Russia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	14.	Crystal Huang (USA), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	15.	KangWon Lee and Minjin Kim (Republic of Korea), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	16.	Gennady Yanin and Ana Turazashvili, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	17.	Gulzhan Tutkibayeva, Tamas Solymosi, Svetlana Zakharova, Andrian Fadeev, and Sun Hee Kim, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	18.	Jury, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
		all photos © Press Center of the International Ballet Competition
Editing:		Kayla Kauffman

4. July 202610. July 2026

“It is necessary to notice talent and to help it.”

XV International Ballet Competition
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
June 25–July 05, 2026 (live streams)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Last week, the International Ballet Competition kicked off in Moscow for the fifteenth time since its foundation in 1969. This year, it is dedicated to Yuri Grigorovich (1927–2025), the competition’s artistic director and permanent chairman of the jury for more than half a century. His Legend of Love, performed by the Mariinsky Ballet, opened the competition.

Held every four years, the International Ballet Competition is compared to an Olympic contest in which participation is an honor. This year, a record 362 dancers from thirty-five countries applied, of whom 131 were invited to Moscow. They compete in two age categories—the junior group, ages 15-19 years, and the senior group, ages 20-27 years (many of whom are leading members of a company)—each divided into solo performances and duets. Laureates will emerge from Continue reading ““It is necessary to notice talent and to help it.””

4. March 202625. March 2026

The Benchmark

“Coppélia”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
February 21, 2026 (evening performance)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

My hopes on a new video release were raised when I noticed the cameraman at the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of Coppélia, until he explained that the recording was for internal use only. It’ll set the bar high for future generations of dancers.

Sergei Vikharev’s production, which he said is the most complete and exact rendition of what Nicholas Sergeyev noted from his St. Petersburg memories (his manuscripts are stored at Harvard University), has been in the Bolshoi’s repertory since 2009. It preserves all the details that fell victim to artistic, financial, and producing conditions in many Western stagings. Continue reading “The Benchmark”

25. February 202626. February 2026

Someone is in Control

“Master and Margarita”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
February 18/19, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Around two years ago, I saw Edward Clug’s ballet adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita at the Bolshoi Theatre and found it fabulous. Last week’s two performances corroborated my impression. They also reminded me that, however chaotic the world might get, there’s no need to worry; someone is in control. In Clug’s version, it’s the Satan alias Woland and his accomplices. That hell and heaven commonly coordinate their actions went by the board.

Bulgakov intertwined two storylines (one deals with the absurd mayhem caused by Woland and his entourage on a 1930 visit to Moscow, the other is an eyewitness account of the trial of Jesus of Nazareth under Pontius Pilate’s governance), which are connected by the Master (an unrecognized Muskovit author, i.e., Bulgakov’s alter ego) and his muse, Margarita. Continue reading “Someone is in Control”

22. February 202623. February 2026

“I’m a supporter of talented people”

“Marco Spada”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (Historic Stage)
Moscow, Russia
February 15, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

The Bolshoi Ballet has two choreographies by Pierre Lacotte (1932-2023) in its repertory: his recreation of Petipa’s La Fille du Pharaon (which he entrusted to no other company) and Marco Spada, a 1857 ballet d’action for the Paris Opéra by Joseph Mazilier to music by Daniel Auber, which was lost except for a few sketches and reviews. In 1981, Lacotte choreographed and staged it from scratch for the Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma with Rudolf Nureyev in the title role. Despite being peripatetic, Nureyev was so eager to participate in the production that he signed a contract on the tablecloth during a restaurant outing with Lacotte. “I, Rudolf Nureyev, guarantee that for the duration of a month I will attend daily rehearsals in Rome for the ballet Marco Spada,” he wrote.

Continue reading ““I’m a supporter of talented people””

4. January 202611. January 2026

Believe in Miracles

“The Nutcracker. Waiting for a Miracle”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
December 29, 2025 (documentary)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Of the many special moments in Yuri Grigorovich’s The Nutcracker, there’s one you shouldn’t miss: when the Christmas tree is growing, and Marie’s transformation takes place. Then you need to make a wish. At least, that’s the insiders’ tip from the Bolshoi Ballet’s artists involved in the production.

Grigorovich’s The Nutcracker premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1966 and was performed for the eight hundredth time earlier in December. Perhaps that’s why the Russian Channel One broadcast a one-hour documentary about The Nutcracker at the end of December. The film outlines the plot, provides insight into the music, set, and costumes, and looks at sixty years of performance history, during which nothing changed. Numerous coaches and ballet masters guarantee that Grigorovich’s legacy is preserved and kept alive. Continue reading “Believe in Miracles”

22. July 202527. July 2025

“We Need Him”

“Diaghilev”
Dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
June 24, 2025 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

The man in need whom Sergei Lifar wrote about in 1939 was Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), impresario of the Ballets Russes and a revolutionist of ballet. Diaghilev’s burning passion to discover and promote creative beauty is unequaled. He shaped the perception of Russian culture in the West and, like a virus, changed the DNA of twentieth-century art. Without him, Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Ida Rubinstein, Feodor Chaliapin, and Igor Stravinsky wouldn’t have become known to the world, and the careers of choreographers, such as Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska, Léonide Massine, and George Balanchine, might have taken another path. Ten years after Diaghilev’s death, no one had filled the void he had left behind.

Ninety-six years later, a new Diaghilev has yet to be found, but—as Russia and the West separated again—the need for a bridge-building spirit and culture that unites people across borders is more pressing than ever. That’s why Russia launched the cultural search festival We Need Diaghilev last year, which features various expositions, lectures, and performances at Russian and foreign venues. Continue reading ““We Need Him””

18. June 202526. June 2025

Prix Benois Laureates 2025

Prix Benois de la Danse
Bolshoi Theatre (Historic Stage)
Moscow, Russia
June 17, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

Yesterday evening, the Prix Benois laureates were announced on the Bolshoi Theatre’s historic stage for the 33rd time.

Mthuthuzeli November won the prize for best choreography in absentia for Chapter Two, a creation for Cape Ballet Africa in South Africa. The Mariinsky Ballet’s Renata Shakirova won the best female dancer prize for her performance as Swanilda in Alexander Sergeev’s new Coppélia. Like last year, the prize for the best male dancer was awarded twice. Joshua Williams received the Prix Benois for his performance in November’s Chapter Two; Dmitry Smilevsky (Bolshoi Ballet) was awarded for his performances as Mercutio in Leonid Lavrovsky’s version of Romeo and Juliet and Prince Désiré in Yuri Grigorovich’s version of The Sleeping Beauty. Continue reading “Prix Benois Laureates 2025”

14. June 202518. June 2025

Dancer Nominees for the Prix Benois 2025

Prix Benois de la Danse
Bolshoi Theatre (Historic Stage)
Moscow, Russia
June 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

As in 2024, the Prix Benois jury nominated thirteen dancers from eight companies for this season’s award. Of the six women and seven men, two dance in China, France, and South Africa; one dances in Kazakhstan; and six, Russia. Next Tuesday, the laureates will be announced at an award ceremony at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.

Here’s a short overview of the nominees in alphabetical order by company name: Continue reading “Dancer Nominees for the Prix Benois 2025”

29. April 202523. January 2026

Full of Spirits

“The Tempest”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
April 22, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

For his latest choreography for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2024—The Tempest (after Shakespeare’s play)—Vyacheslav Samodurov again teamed up with composer Yuri Krasavin. Both had already collaborated on the one-act ballet Dancemania in 2022. This time, their cooperation must have been tempestuous. “Vyacheslav Samodurov and I did not get along right away…I still see this play completely different,” Krasavin stated in an interview. While Krasavin believed that he accompanied rather than led the artistic process, for Samodurov, “Music comes always first and the composer is the boss in many ways.” But whoever was the boss, the score (played by the Bolshoi Orchestra under the baton of Pavel Klinichev) was mesmerizing. Continue reading “Full of Spirits”

16. March 202520. March 2025

Brimful

“Cipollino”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
March 08, 2025 (matinee and evening performance)

The boy Cippolino (Little Onion), the hero of Gianni Rodari’s 1957 children’s book Adventures of Cipollino, enjoyed an international career. He was especially popular in eastern countries and a famous cartoon and film figure in the Soviet Union. A ballet adaption by Genrikh Mayorov (1936-2022) entered the Bolshoi Ballet’s repertory three years after its Kiev premiere. Cipollino was revived at the Bolshoi earlier this season and still attracts crowds. Though a children’s fairy tale, adults can appreciate the production, especially when danced at top quality. I saw a matinee attended primarily by children and their parents as well as a sold-out evening performance.

The young Cipollino and his family are members of jovial townsfolk who are anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables—Cobbler Grape, Professor Pear, Godfather Pumpkin, and the Radish family, whose daughter, Little Radish, becomes Cipollino’s best buddy. They’re ruled by the high-handed, eccentric Prince Lemon whose court includes an acerbic guard, ludicrous knights, and the two overexcited Countesses Cherry. Continue reading “Brimful”

12. March 202516. March 2025

Dreams versus Reality

“The Seagull”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre (New Stage)
Moscow, Russia
March 06, 2025

Almost four years after its premiere in summer 2021, I finally saw Yuri Possokhov’s The Seagull at the Bolshoi Theatre. It was his sixth creation for the company (his seventh and latest, The Queen of Spades, premiered in 2023), and the fourth time, he teamed up with composer Ilya Demutsky. The artistic team included costume designer Emma Ryott (a longstanding collaborator of choreographer Christian Spuck) and set designer Tom Pye (who also created the designs for Possokhov’s Anna Karenina). David Finn contributed the lighting, Sergei Rylko the video design.

Chekhov’s The Seagull is labeled as a comedy, but its humor is bitter at best. Not a single protagonist leads a fulfilled life. Everybody runs after a dream world or tries to construct their realities. Family relationships are strained, and love is unrequited, quickly exhausted, or phony. Possokhov’s interpretation throws more light on some characters, and less on others, and differs in some respects from the original. Irina Arkadina (Kristina Kretova)—an actress in Chekhov’s version, a renowned ballerina in Possokhov’s—is not merely a fashionable yet greedy diva and dysfunctional mother. She shows her empathetic side when she recalls childhood memories with her elderly brother, Pyotr Sorin (Mikhail Lobukhin), whose unrealized dreams of marriage and artistic career Possokhov omitted. Like in the text, events largely unfolded at Sorin’s country estate. Continue reading “Dreams versus Reality”

4. January 202523. January 2026

The Hub

“The Nutcracker”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
December 31, 2024 (live stream)

During this year’s Christmas sermon, my pastor asked which moment should best represent Christmas. The Christmas dinner? The lighting of the candles? Or, perhaps, unwrapping the presents? For me, this moment was the moment during the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker when the newlywed Marie (Elizaveta Kokoreva) and the Nutcracker Prince (Artem Ovcharenko) were lifted by their court toward the star at the top of the Christmas tree. It was the climax of their spiritual journey and of Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography for which I had been waiting since I last saw his Nutcracker live in Moscow in 2022.

Two live streams on December 30th (evening performance) and December 31st (matinee) enabled a vast audience to follow the heroes’ journey. To meet the demand, the number of cinemas offering live broadcasts grew from one hundred to three hundred in December. Most were located in Russia, but cinemas in Belarus, Armenia, and the United Arab Emirates also participated. I was able to watch the matinee on the Bolshoi’s vk video platform. Continue reading “The Hub”

10. September 202424. January 2026

An Opening Salute

“The Sleeping Beauty”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
September 07, 2024 (live stream)

The Bolshoi Ballet opened its 249th season with a revival of Yuri Grigorovich’s The Sleeping Beauty, which has been absent from the stage for four years. Because of the thorough change of décor, the production was announced as a premiere. It swapped the opulent (and often criticized) sets and costumes that Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino designed for the 2011 revival (celebrating the reopening of the theater’s Historic Stage after six years of refurbishment) for the restrained décor that Simon Virsaladze (1909–1989) created for Grigorovich’s second version of the ballet in 1973. The subdued hues and aquarelle-ish style of its courtly surroundings direct the gaze toward the colorful costumes (recalling French court fashion from King Louis XIII’s to the Sun King, Louis XIV’s, reign), beautiful flower garlands and bouquets at Aurora’s birthday party, and, most importantly, the dancers and their performances. Raising the curtain didn’t elicit oohs and aahs from the audience as, for example, Jürgen Rose’s décor for Marcia Haydée’s Sleeping Beauty regularly has done on Western stages. Continue reading “An Opening Salute”

7. August 202415. August 2024

Reassuring

Sochi Olympics 2014
Sochi, Russia
August 2024

Given the nauseating freak show at the opening of the Paris Olympics last week, re-watching the ceremony held ten years ago at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi helps to restore belief in culture. It included the mini-ballet Natasha Rostov’s First Ball (choreographed by Radu Poklitaru, Andriy Musorin, and Oleksandr Leshchenko), which was based on Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Russia’s finest dancers were featured next to the two hundred couples waltzing to Eugen Doga’s film music for A Hunting Accident (Russian title: Мой ласковый и нежный зверь, meaning, My Sweet and Tender Beast). The Bolshoi Ballet’s Svetlana Zakharova danced the young, romantic beauty, Natasha Rostova; ballet legend Vladimir Vasiliev played her father, Count Rostov.

The Mariinsky Ballet’s Danila Korsuntsev performed the role of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky; Alexander Petukhov portrayed Pierre Bezukhov; as the dashing hussar, Anatoly Kuragin, Ivan Vasiliev delivered breathtaking jumps that made the audience cheer. The ball came to an abrupt end when Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 ushered in the dark times that subsequently swept over Russia. Continue reading “Reassuring”