Landgraf on Dance

4. 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 a three-round selection process consisting of two classical variations (one from a predetermined list, the other the dancer’s choice) in round I, a classical variation and a contemporary piece in round II, and variations and duets from Grigorovich’s oeuvre in round III. Rounds I and II were held at the Bolshoi Theatre’s new stage; round III and the gala concert will take place on the historic stage.

On Wednesday evening, a fourteen-strong international jury of high-ranking dance professionals, chaired by Svetlana Zakharova, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet, People’s Artist of Russia, State Prize Laureate of Russia, and Rector of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, selected eighteen junior contestants for the final. The following day, thirty of the junior group advanced to round III as well.

Reminiscing about his experience with Grigorovich, Vadim Pisarev, People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, artistic director of the Donetsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre, prize winner in 1985, and a frequent juror, summarized the competition’s objective: “It is necessary to notice talent and to help it.” Grigorovich’s evaluation method was mathematical, he revealed. Grigorovich didn’t compromise on a single point, and if each juror didn’t give full points, the Grand Prix wasn’t awarded.

The short video documentary about Pisarev is part of the special project Birth of a Supernova, which features acclaimed artists whose careers took a decisive turn due to the International Ballet Competition. Among them is Ernest Latypov, principal of the Mikhailovsky Theatre and prize winner in 2013 and 2017. In 2013, he actually wanted to work quietly in the theater, prepare roles, and work up the ladder rather than participate in the competition, he divulged. But his teacher insisted—and was right. “Competitions give you tremendous experience.
You learn to deal with your nerves; you have to stay calm. In one minute, you have to show a great deal. A minute goes by very quickly. And during that one minute, you have no right to make a mistake. You have to approach it with a cool head. Go out and dance. You don’t need to amaze anyone. Believe me, the jury has seen everything. There is no need to try to impress them. You have to dance in a way that brings you joy. And in general, you should not try to dance better than someone else. You should try to dance better than the person you were yesterday.”

Notably, all three rounds, the awards’ ceremony, and the laureates’ gala concert are broadcast live on the International Ballet Compe-tition’s website, the VK Video platform, and the competition’s VKontakte community and will remain available in the archive. So far, the Bolshoi Ballet’s Ana Turazashvili and Gennady Yanin have presented each broadcast in Russian and English. Given that broadcasts were marathons lasting up to ten hours each day, their professionalism was amazing.

Links:		Website of the International Ballet Competition
		Website of the Bolshoi Theatre
		International Ballet Competition—video archive
		Birth of a Supernova
Photos:	1.	Jung Yeonjoo (Republic of Korea), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	2.	Viengsay Valés (Cuba), Gulzhan Tutkibayeva (Kazakhstan), Boris Eifman (Russia), Andrian Fadeev (Russia), Svetlana Zakharova (Russia), Igor Kolb (Belarus), and Lili Xin (China); XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	3.	Svetlana Zakharova (Russia), Igor Kolb (Belarus), and Lili Xin (China), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	4.	Ana Turazashvili and Gennady Yanin, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	5.	Jury, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	6.	Adilzhan Rakhmanov (Kyrgyzstan), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	7.	Natalija Miljevic (Serbia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	8.	Nilay Tahiroglu (Turkey/Bulgaria), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	9.	Helen Azurmendi Ríos (Cuba) and Jason Ernesto Baró Benavides (Cuba), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	10.	Razmik Marukyan (Armenia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	11.	Kunbyulbit Pak (Republic of Korea), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	12.	Tigran Ayvazyan (Armenia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	13.	Yana Peneva (USA, Bulgaria) and Alexei Orohovsky (USA), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	14.	Jana Zimonjic (Serbia), XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
	15.	Backstage, XV International Ballet Competition 2026, Bolshoi Theatre
		all photos © Press Center of the International Ballet Competition
Editing:		Kayla Kauffman

24. June 20264. July 2026

Ambitious but Not Gripping

“Wonderland” (“Alice in Wonderland”/“Through the Looking-Glass”)
Hamburg Ballet
Hamburg State Opera
Hamburg, Germany
June 20, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Compared to Alexei Ratmansky’s recent choreography, Callirhoe, for the Vienna State Ballet, his new creation, Wonderland, for the Hamburg Ballet feels empty. It combines two dance adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s most notable novels, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871), each of which is presented in a one-hour act.

No doubt, the production is ambitious and elaborate. Ratmansky and his son, Vasyl, assembled different music for each of the no fewer than twenty-eight scenes, which Philip Feeney merged into a score. Erik Satie’s Three Gnossiennes, no.3, for example, lulls Alice (Olivia Betteridge) into her dream journey down the rabbit hole. Percy Grainger’s Molly on the Shore (amended by a cock-crow) gives the cackling animals at the Caucus race—among them a crab, mouse, dodo, and eaglet—a voice, Continue reading “Ambitious but Not Gripping”

5. June 202624. June 2026

Well on the Way

“Matinee Ballet Academy”
Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
May 31, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Excitement permeated the Vienna State Opera as its auditorium filled for the Ballet Academy’s end-of-the-year performance last Sunday. One could feel the jitters of both the young artists and their families and friends who flocked to the performance. Their worries were unfounded; everything went as smoothly as could be wished.

Music by the Strauss family accompanied the opening Presentation, which assembled students of the 1.- 8. class. Its compilation of polkas, marches, gallops, and ball dances choreographed by the Academy’s director, Continue reading “Well on the Way”

4. June 20268. June 2026

Enlightening

“American Signatures”
Vienna State Ballet & Volksoper Wien
Volksoper Wien
Vienna, Austria
May 30, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Of the four American choreographers included in the Vienna State Ballet’s mixed bill, American Signatures, only Jerome Robbins is well known in mainland Europe. Works by Pam Tanowitz, Lar Lubovitch, and Jessica Lang are rarely staged. Hence, I was glad to see this season’s last performance.

Robbin’s Interplay premiered in autumn 1945, shortly after World War II, as the second choreography in his oeuvre. Absolutely nothing in the piece hints at war. Instead, its eight dancers (four women and four men) portray unburdened, fun-loving youth with contagious optimism and self-assurance. A backdrop as gloriously blue as a summer sky intensifies the bright colors of the men’s shirts (with which they wear black, skintight pants and white socks) and the girls’ short dresses. Of course, they wear ponytails. The American way of living that they represent reminds me of Continue reading “Enlightening”

1. June 20264. June 2026

Cosmic Plans

“Cinderella”
Tartar State Academic Ballet
Jalil Opera and Ballet Tartar State Academic Theatre
Kazan, Russia
May 11, 2026 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Romeo and Juliet is inextricably linked to Sergei Prokofiev’s (1891-1953) music, but it’s less well known that he also composed the score for Cinderella. The ballet was the Bolshoi Theatre’s first post-war world premiere in 1945. One year later, a lighter, more fairy tale-like version premiered at the Kirov Theatre (now Mariinsky Theatre) in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). This year, Prokofiev would have celebrated his 135th birthday, and two new Cinderellas seem like respectable gifts. In mid-May, Nadezhda Kalinina’s version opened the 39th Rudolf Nureyev International Classical Ballet Festival in Kazan. Vyacheslav Lopatin’s debut choreography for his home company, the Bolshoi Ballet, followed closely on May 28th. I had the opportunity to watch a recording of Kazan’s Cinderella. Continue reading “Cosmic Plans”

30. April 20261. June 2026

Congratulations

“Giselle”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
April 26, 2026 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

The Vienna State Ballet’s recent live stream of Giselle was one of those precious events where everything is perfect. Choreographed for Vienna in 1993 by Elena Tchernichova, the piece is the company’s “calling card.” Additionally, perhaps due to the new artistic director, Alessandra Ferri, who passed on her experience studying with Tchernichova herself, the dancers performed especially well. “Elena Tchernichova was the person who first taught me the role of Giselle when I was just twenty-one, dancing with American Ballet Theatre alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov,” Ferri revealed. Continue reading “Congratulations”

29. April 202630. April 2026

Retrospection

“Tribute to Tetley”
Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart State Opera
Stuttgart, Germany
April 25, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

In 1972, no one foresaw how fateful Glen Tetley’s (1926-2007) invitation to stage his 1965 piece, The Mythical Hunter, for Stuttgart’s junior company would be. He and the artistic director, John Cranko, got along, and Tetley was commissioned to create a new ballet for the main company. It was June 1973, and Voluntaries wasn’t yet finished when news of Cranko’s sudden death on a transatlantic flight reached Stuttgart. At the request of Marcia Haydée and Cranko’s heir, the late Dieter Graefe, Tetley subsequently took over as the company’s artistic director. But administrative work burdened him. After two seasons, he passed the reins to Haydée, relieved to renew his focus on choreography. Yet fate had something else in store. In 1986, just as Tetley agreed to become Erik Bruhn’s artistic associate at the National Ballet of Canada, Bruhn died. Tetley kept his word, took up the post, and stayed for five years. Continue reading “Retrospection”

24. April 202629. April 2026

Growing From Solid Roots

“Miniatures”
Les Ballets de Monte Carlo
Salle Garnier Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
April 18, 2026

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s recent premiere, Miniatures, takes up the 2004 project of the same title. Back then, Bruno Mantovani, artistic director of the festival Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo and director of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, challenged Le Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s artistic director, Jean-Christophe Maillot, with seven contemporary compositions. Each of them represented another mindscape; none was written for dance, and Maillot was tasked with choreographies. He was successful. Mantovani threw four new compositions commissioned for this year’s festival into the ring (and also played them with the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain during the run of the program), which former and current dancers of the company put into dance. Two of Maillot’s 2004 works complemented the ninety-minute program. Continue reading “Growing From Solid Roots”

11. April 202624. April 2026

A Man of Mystery

“Pushkin”
Ballet of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre
Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre
Krasnoyarsk, Russia
March 15, 2026 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

Three years after Catharsis Dante, the Moscow-based choreographer Nikita Dmitrievsky created a second piece, Pushkin, for the Krasnoyarsk Ballet. Its two densely pact acts deal with Russia’s literary hero, Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), and his inner life and spiritual being. Except for the music, which is by Konstantin Borosov (his first ballet composition), Dmitrievsky was in charge of the entire production (i.e., the choreography, libretto, lighting, and set, costume, and video design). I had the opportunity to watch a video of the premiere, which took place on March 15th.

As the libretto comprises no fewer than twenty-seven scenes, becoming familiar with the synopsis in advance is highly recommended. Continue reading “A Man of Mystery”

30. March 202611. April 2026

A Conversation With Pavel Glukhov

Moscow, Russia
March 16, 2026 (video conference)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2026 by Ilona Landgraf

In recent years, Pavel Glukhov has carved out a place for himself at the forefront of contemporary dance in Russia. Two of his latest pieces, Pavlova and Russian Character, were created for MuzArts; The Nutcracker. Not a Fairy Tale premiered with Ballet Moscow. Thanks to MuzArts’s executive producer, Daria Faezova, I was able to talk with him via video conference. Alexei Faezov kindly interpreted from Russian to English and vice versa.

What encouraged you to become a dancer? Were there any role models in your family or other sources of inspiration?
Actually, no one in my family is directly connected to art. I’m the only one. I started dancing around the age of nine. Once, when I was walking with a friend, we entered a culture club, which offered dancing classes, and I stayed there right away. I felt connected to it and liked it very much. Continue reading “A Conversation With Pavel Glukhov”

25. March 202630. March 2026

Unrealistic

“Nureyev”
State Ballet Berlin
Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Germany
March 21, 2026

Last weekend, Yuri Possokhov’s and Kirill Serebrennikov’s joint production Nureyev premiered with the State Ballet Berlin. I remember well the piece’s 2017 world premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre and the troubles preceding it. In 2022, Nureyev was removed from the Bolshoi’s repertory following new Russian anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that made it illegal to promote the success and power of queer personalities, per Serebrennikov’s explanation.

Bringing this ballet back to life could have been a tribute to not only Rudolf Nureyev but also Russian ballet as well as a gift to the Bolshoi, which celebrates its 250th anniversary this year. Continue reading “Unrealistic”

4. March 202625. March 2026

The Benchmark

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

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”

28. February 20264. March 2026

Restorative

“The Snow Maiden”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia
February 21, 2026 (matinee)

The legend of a girl made of snow who falls in love with a human but cannot survive the warmth of spring has its roots in Slavic mythology. The fairy tale entered the stage in 1873 when, due to the renovation of Moscow’s Maly Theatre, all three Imperial companies—drama, opera, and ballet—were accommodated by the Bolshoi Theatre. To seize the occasion, the management decided to unite them in a single fairy tale production. The Russian author Alexander Ostrovsky was commissioned for the libretto and Pyotr Tchaikovsky a composition. A few months later, Nikolay Rubinstein conducted the premiere. This marked the stage birth of The Snow Maiden. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1880/81 opera version is also based on Ostrovsky’s libretto. Continue reading “Restorative”

26. February 202628. February 2026

Recovery

“The Nutcracker. Not a Fairy Tale”
Ballet Moscow
Novaya Opera Theatre
Moscow, Russia
February 20, 2026

The premiere of a new Nutcracker in late February sounded uncommon to my Western ears until I noticed the still festive decorations of Moscow’s streets and the growing piles of snow lining them. Snow also fell in Pavel Glukhov’s The Nutcracker. Not a Fairy Tale and much more fiercely than outside, as if to herald his version’s chilling content, the First World War. Told with warmth and ending happily, Glukhov’s Nutcracker has characteristics of a fairy tale but is recommended for children aged twelve and older. He choreographed it for Ballet Moscow, the home base of which is the Novaya Opera Theatre in the city center.

The story’s hero is Nathaniel, a figure E.T.A. Hoffmann created not for his The Nutcracker and the Mouse King but for his spooky The Sandman, which later served as the basis for Coppélia. A crossbreed between Coppelius, the Nutcracker, and Drosselmeyer, Glukhov’s Nathaniel is a puppet maker who specializes in wooden nutcrackers in military dress. Continue reading “Recovery”

25. February 202626. February 2026

Someone is in Control

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

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”