Article: Paris International Dance Competition
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"many of the other competitors were noticeable above all because they
either danced in transparent underwear, or took off their clothes at
the end of their solo..."
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Paris International Dance Competition
=====================================================================
The Paris International Dance Competition : a huge melting pot of dance
by Patricia Boccadoro
PARIS, 21 December 2000 - "The Paris International Dance Competition gave
me the opportunity to dance in front of an audience, and to interpret The
Cigarette, a solo I had been longing to work on ", Emilie Cozette, gold
medallist in 1998, told me at the Palais Garnier where she is currently
working on Balanchine's Jewels.
I had recently joined the Paris Opéra Ballet, and when you serve your
apprenticeship the first year, there aren't many occasions to dance.
Winning the junior section was not my main aim , but it obviously helped my
career, most of all because it brought me into direct contact with
Elisabeth Platel, the ballerina I most admire, who was President of the
classical jury at the time. When she offered to work with me, I was over
the moon!
Since then, I have been trusted with several important roles at the Opéra
and I also get invitations to dance in galas from people who either saw or
heard about me. It was a fascinating and happy experience, more like a huge
rendezvous of dance for people from all over the world, than a contest."
[photo]
Emilie Cozette
Reiterating Emilie's comment that the Paris competition was a huge melting
pot of dance, where directors contacted choreographers, and choreographers
met dancers, Cyril Lafaurie, the capable and highly organised director of
the competition to whom I spoke during rehearsals for the contemporary
finals told me that he liked to think of the contest more as a continuation
of the Dance Festival than an exam.
"There was so little dance in Paris in the early sixties, when there was
only one programme every Wednesday evening at the Paris Opéra . The idea of
the Festival, founded in 1963 ", he said," was to encourage dance in the
French capital, and then when The Ballet Competition of Varna, in Bulgaria,
was created the following year with which it is twinned, the seeds were
sown for one in Paris, but it didn't come about until 1984. The first year
was purely classical, but then we decided to create a contemporary section
two years later.
"By 1988, the Competition took on the form it has today, when it is held
every two years, alternating with the New Paris International Dance
Festival, as the festival was renamed when Madame Jacques Chirac became the
President."
"What makes the contest different from Varna, where the traditional role
was to introduce new classical stars to the ballet world, Vassiliev,
Maximova and Baryshnikov in the early years, Guillem, Letestu and Martinez
more recently, is the fact that it is a dance rather than a ballet
competition, and is divided into two distinct sections, contemporary and
classical, which are held on different days and with two different panels
of judges . A list of names of those on the jury over the past few years
would read like a Who's Who of dance."
This year, only one Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris was awarded. In the
contemporary dance section. Mélanie Lomoff, aged twenty-two, won hands down
(and feet up) with Hé Wu!, a tongue-in-cheek solo created for her by José
Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu. Mr Wu won the Grand Prix de la Ville de
Paris in 1998 , and both are members of Montalvo-Hervieu's company in
Créteil.
[photo]
Melanie Lomoff
First prizes to China and South Korea
First prizes went to Zhenyan Wu, twenty, from China, and the expressive
Young Jun An, twenty-four, from South Korea, but many of the other
competitors were noticeable above all because they either danced in
transparent underwear, or took off their clothes at the end of their solo
as did Jong- Chul Shin, also from South Korea , who nevertheless carried
off second prize with his pants. The question in my mind was whether he
would have come first if he hadn't, or if he got the second because he had.
[photo]
Young Jun An
Because Mr Shin, as well as a very heavy, muscular young French pair,
devoid of grace or charm , who obtained the first prize for couples, were
not my personal favourites, I asked Thierry Malandain, President of the
contemporary jury how choices were made, and which dancer he would hire if
he had a vacancy in his company. Hui Qiu , was his reply. "I already went
backstage to congratulate him, and make an offer. My company is going on
tour to Canton, in China next year, and I will see him there as I hope he
will come to work with us for three months and then join my troupe".
When I pointed out that attractive twenty-two year old Mr Qiu didn't win
any prize at all despite the fact he was one of the best dancers, Malandain
commented that it was often very difficult to differentiate the interpreter
from the choreographer. Voting had been very divided this year as the jury
was composed of "classical" contemporary choreographers like himself and
Nils Christe, and the more "modern " contemporary choreographers, led by
Odile Duboc , and marks had been based on very differing criteria, not
least, personal taste.
Voting seemed a lot easier in the classical section, when half the marks
were given for technical ability, and half for artistic presentation, and
few would dispute the choice of the ravishing Aurore Cordellier, sixteen,
as gold medallist. Aurore, like Emilie Cozette before her, is a pure
product of the Paris Opéra school, and is serving her apprenticeship in the
company's corps de ballet.
Second prize went to the radiant young Yu Hui Choe, also sixteen, from
Korea, while another great favourite with the audience was the twenty year
old Polish boy, Marcin Krajewski, actually with the Jeune Ballet de France,
who was acclaimed for his brilliant illustration of Jacques Brel's Les
Bourgeois, and was awarded the AROP prize for interpretation.
Leonid Sarafanov, eighteen, from the Ukraine; was awarded first prize
junior, for his intelligent interpretation of Paquita, where he showed off
his high, soft jumps , and elegant style but no first prize was awarded in
the somewhat disappointing senior section, where the finest dancer of all,
Federico Bonelli, twenty-two, ( surely Italian ?) presented himself in the
couples category with an ill-assorted partner. No gold medal was given here
either, but a second prize was awarded to impeccably trained Jean-Sébastian
Colau, and Lise-Marie Jourdain, twenty three and twenty-two, from the Paris
Opéra Ballet, who danced excellently together as a couple.
[photo]
Lise-Marie Jourdain and Jean-Sebastian Colau
Lise-Marie summed up the general attitude to the competition. "I already
went to Varna with Jean-Sébastien, and we were so warmly received by
everyone that we decided to repeat the experience here. We've been able to
see dancers from all over the world and would have enjoyed it even if we
hadn't won a medal. We're both only quadrilles (the lowest rank) in the
Opéra so it's been a wonderful opportunity to interpret a pas de deux, with
just the two of us on stage. It was hard work, but fun preparing for it,
and if it helps us with our career , well then, it's a bonus! We've a long
way to go yet, and it's more a beginning than an end".
All the prizewinners took part in a gala with guest appearances from Tero
Saarinen , Grand Prix, 1988, and Yuval Pick , Grand Prix 1996, in
Saarinen's excellent work Could you take some of my weight?, followed by
Rolando Sarabia, the Cuban dancer, who won the Grand Prix de la Ville de
Paris in 1998, (as well as Varna and Jackson), partnered by the adorable
Brasilian ballerina Daniela Severian, who won first prize in Paris four
years ago, in the pas de deux from Le Corsaire. Sarabia, now eighteen, who
dances with the National Ballet of Cuba, is one of the most spectacular
artists of his generation. The Orchestre Colonne was conducted by Yannis
Pouspourikas.
Photo credits: Jean-Charles Gesquiere
Patricia Boccadoro writes on dance in Europe. She contributes to The
Guardian, The Observer and Dancing Times and was dance consultant to the
BBC Omnibus documentary on Rudolf Nureyev. Ms. Boccadoro is the dance
editor for Culturekiosque.com.
Copyright © 1996 - 2000 Culturekiosque Publications Ltd
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In article <fea64915a3537a7b...@dizum.com>,
Nomen Nescio <Use-Author-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:
> =====================================================================
> Paris International Dance Competition
> =====================================================================
>
> The Paris International Dance Competition : a huge melting pot of
dance
>
> by Patricia Boccadoro
>
> PARIS, 21 December 2000 - "The Paris International Dance Competition
gave
> me the opportunity to dance in front of an audience..."
[ rest deleted ]
>
> Patricia Boccadoro writes on dance in Europe. She contributes to The
> Guardian, The Observer and Dancing Times and was dance consultant to
the
> BBC Omnibus documentary on Rudolf Nureyev. Ms. Boccadoro is the dance
> editor for Culturekiosque.com.
>
> Copyright © 1996 - 2000 Culturekiosque Publications Ltd
> All Rights Reserved
>
>
edi...@culturekiosque.com
Sincerely,
> =====================================================================
> Paris International Dance Competition
> =====================================================================
>
> The Paris International Dance Competition : a huge melting pot of
dance
>
> by Patricia Boccadoro
>
> PARIS, 21 December 2000 - "The Paris International Dance Competition
gave
> me the opportunity to dance in front of an audience..."
[ rest deleted ]
>
> Patricia Boccadoro writes on dance in Europe. She contributes to The
> Guardian, The Observer and Dancing Times and was dance consultant to
the
> BBC Omnibus documentary on Rudolf Nureyev. Ms. Boccadoro is the dance
> editor for Culturekiosque.com.
>
> Copyright © 1996 - 2000 Culturekiosque Publications Ltd
> All Rights Reserved
>
>
animalinter...@gmail.com
Dit behoort tot het klassieke assortiment, maar ook de jazz- en showdanseressen kunnen hier hun danskleding vinden. Er is een uitgebreid aanbod aan danspanty's, zoals verschillende kleuren netpanty's ("fishnet maillots"), huidkleurige glanspanty's, matte panty's en niet te vergeten de stevige 70 Denier balletpanty's met voet en zonder voet, in de kleuren roze, zwart en wit.
Qua schoeisel is het aanbod ook behoorlijk divers in deze danswinkel. Zo ontbreken er geen zwarte sneakers van leer, want deze dansschoenen zijn erg populair geworden laatste jaren. Als tegenhanger van leer zien we de canvas jazzschoenen Salsette I van Sansha. Voor een iets fijnere look kun je kiezen voor zwarte jazzschoenen met een hakje en veters. Vaak is dit de beste keus voor professionele dansers.
Zoek je iets voor een kleintje, bijvoorbeeld een balletpakje voor een peuter, dan is er genoeg keus uit verschillende kinderballetpakjes. De maten gaan al vanaf maat 86!
Tevens zijn er bijpassende lichtroze balletschoentjes. Kids dragen vaak balletschoenen met hele zool, terwijl volwassenen een splitzool dragen. Het linnen innovatieve model Stretchpro is een professionele balletschoen voor dames.
Een bestseller uit het assortiment is bijvoorbeeld de zwarte hotpants van katoen. Veelal gedragen over een balletpak of gecombineerd met een danstop zoals de "Urbantop". In deze top komen de schouders mooi tot hun recht.
Mis vooral ook de populaire zwarte danslegging Flex niet. Deze is gemaakt van de innovatieve stof Tactel, waardoor het bewegen een stuk soepeler gaat dan bij katoen.
Cadeautjes zijn er in de vorm van kleine snuisterijtje zoals sleutelhangers en balletkettinkjes, maar ook is er een ruim aanbod van tassen. Erg gewild tijdens feestdagen zoals Sinterklaas, kerst en bij verjaardagen.
Vooral het merk Dancer Dancewear zie je terug in het uitgebreide assortiment, vanwege de beste prijs/kwaliteit verhouding. Hiernaast zijn er ook veel artikelen van de bekende merken Papillon en Sansha. De prijzen zijn al goed, maar je hebt extra geluk als je iets moois kunt aanschaffen in de outlet. Je zult je verbazen dat prachtige balletkleding goedkoop kan uitvallen.
Balletkleding kan ook naar Belgie, Luxemburg, Frankrijk en Duitsland worden verstuurd. De verzendkosten zijn slechts 3,95 euro en het maakt dus niet uit of het verzonden wordt naar Amsterdam, Rotterdam of Antwerpen.
Neem snel een kijkje op de website!