FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dick Caples Tel: 212.221.7909 E-mail: [email protected] Lar Lubovitch awarded the 20th annual prize for best choreography by the Prix Benois de la Danse at the Bolshoi Theater. He is the first head of an American dance company ever to be so honored. New York, NY, May 23, 2012 – Last night at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Lar Lubovitch was awarded the 20th annual prize for best choreography by the Prix Benois de la Danse. Lubovitch is the first head of an American dance company ever presented with the award. He was honored for his creation of Crisis Variations, which premiered at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City on November 9, 2011. The work, for seven dancers, is set to a commissioned score by composer Yevgeniy Sharlat, and the score was performed live at its premiere by the ensemble Le Train Bleu, under the direction of conductor Ransom Wilson. To celebrate the occasion, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performed the duet from Meadow for the audience of 2,500 at the Bolshoi. The dancers in the duet were Katarzyna Skarpetowska and Brian McGinnis. The laureates for best choreography over the previous 19 years include: John Neumeier, Jiri Kylian, Roland Petit, Angelin Preljocaj, Nacho Duato, Alexei Ratmansky, Boris Eifman, Wayne McGregor, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Jorma Elo. Other star performers and important international figures from the world of dance received prizes at this year’s award ceremony. In addition to the award for choreography given to Lubovitch, the winners in other categories were: For the best performance by a ballerina: Alina Cojocaru for the role of Julie in “Liliom” at the Hamburg Ballet. For the best performance by a male dancer, the jury awarded two prizes: one to Mathias Heymann of the Paris Opera for dancing Zaël in “La Source” and one to Carsten Jung of the Hamburg Ballet for the title role in “Liliom.” For the best composition, Michel Legrand for the music for “Liliom” at the Hamburg Ballet. A special lifetime achievement in choreography was given to Pierre Lacotte, a French choreographer who celebrated his 80th birthday last month. He did most of his work for the Paris Opera but also choreographed productions at most of the famous ballet and opera houses of the world, including the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and the Marinsky in St. Petersburg. The jury that awarded the prizes was co-chaired by Yuri Grigorovich (choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater) and John Neumeier (director of the Hamburg Ballet). The other members of the jury were Altynai Asylmuratova (artistic director of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg), Laurent Hilaire (ballet master and deputy director of the Paris Opera Ballet), Kim Joo-won (prima ballerina of the Korea National Ballet of Seoul), Manuel Legris (artistic director of the Vienna State Ballet); Alessandra Ferri (director of the ballet program of Festival dei 2 Mondi in Spoleto), and Jorma Elo (resident choreographer of the Boston Ballet). All of the jurors were themselves previous winners of the Benois de la Danse. The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will perform Crisis Variations on tour this fall in Philadelphia (Annenberg Center on October 11-13), Boston (Shubert Theater on October 19-20), and Washington DC (Kennedy Center on November 29-30), among other cities, and will present an encore of the dance as part of its next home season in New York City this coming November (at a theater to be announced). The creation of Crisis Variations was supported, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The company also acknowledges the generous support of the Open Society Foundation’s Performing Arts Recovery Initiative (administered by the Fund for the City of New York), O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, McMullan Family Fund, Shubert Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, A. Woodner Fund, and Harkness Foundation for Dance. For more information on Lar Lubovitch – and a list of all the nominees for this year’s Prix Benois de la Danse – visit www.lubovitch.org. ### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 24, 2012 Center Benois de la Danse Bolshoi Theater of Russia Moscow, Russia Contact: Alexander Kolesnikov, phone: 7 903 – 593 5847 Email: [email protected] www.benois.theatre.ru Nominees for 20th Anniversary Benois de la Danse Awards Announced MOSCOW, RUSSIA -- Twenty ballerinas, male dancers, choreographers and composers have been nominated as potential laureates in the 20th anniversary Benois de la Danse awards. The prizes are given each year for the best creations of the previous year in classical ballet or other genres of dance throughout the world. “Our laureates have created performances on the major stages of dance that elevate the quality and appreciation of dance to ever higher levels on all the inhabited continents of the world. That gives us great pride,” said Yuri Grigorovich, the Benois jury co-chairman and one of the founders of the award. This year’s nominees represent seven countries -- Russia, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands, the United States and South Korea. The laureates will be selected by an international panel of jurists and will be announced at the Bolshoi Theater of Russia here on May 22. In addition to the award ceremony and the gala of nominees, there will be a gala the following night with performances by laureates from the previous years. Last January the ballet world lost one of its very important figures: Rudi van Dantzig, the Dutch choreographer, director, writer, Benois de la Danse Lifetime Achievement laureate and twice member of its jury. As a memorial to Van Dantzig, the principals of the Dutch National Ballet, Matthew Golding (Benois-2012 nominee) and Anna Tsigankova, will dance the choreographer’s version of the Black Pas de deux from Swan Lake in the first-night gala. This year’s nominees are: CHOREOGRAPHERS PATRICK DE BANA – Marie Antoinette, G.Ph.Telemann, A.Vivaldi, L.M.Cobo, Chevalier de Saint-George, W.A.Mozart, I.Ch. Bach, J.-Ph.Rameau. Version of 2011. Vienna State Ballet. JEAN-GUILLAUME BART – La Source, L. Minkus, L.Délibes. National Paris Opera. LAR LUBOVITCH – Crisis Variations, E. Sharlat. Lar Lubovitch Dance Company of New York, NY. CHUNG EUI-SOOK, DANIEL H. BYUN – Interview with Isang Yun, I. Yun(arrangement by Kim Tae-hoon). Arzid Modern Dance Company of Seoul. BORIS EIFMAN – Rodin, M. Ravel, K, Saint-Saȅns, G. Massenet, C.Debussy, E.Satie. State Academic St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre of Boris Eifman (Russia). BALLERINAS KATHLEEN BREEN COMBES – Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, S.Prokofiev/J.Cranko; Titania in A Summer Night’s Dream, F.Mendelssohn/G.Balanchine. Boston Ballet (USA) OLGA ESINA – The title role in Marie Antoinette, G.Ph.Telemann, A.Vivaldi, L.M.Cobo, Chevalier de Saint-George, W.A.Mozart, I.Ch. Bach, J.-Ph.Rameau./P.de Bana. Version of 2011, Vienna State Ballet. KIM JI-YOUNG – The title role in Giselle, A.Adam/P.Bart; Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, S.Prokofiev/J.-Ch.Maillot. Korea National Ballet. ALINA COJOCARU – Julie in Liliom. M.Legrand/J.Neumeier. Hamburg Ballet (Germany). SARA MEARNS – Honorata in Ocean’s Kingdom, P. McCartney/P. Martins. New York City Ballet. EUGUENYA OBRAZTSOVA – Kitri in Don Quixote, L.Minkus/A.Fadeechev (after A.Gorsky and M.Petipa). Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. LAËTITIA PUJOL – The title role in Cinderella, S.Prokofiev/R.Nureev. National Paris Opera. DANCERS MATTHEW GOLDING – Prince in Nutcracker and the Mouse King, P.Chaikovski/W.Eagling, T.van Schajk. Het National Ballet of Amsterdam. VLADISLAV LANTRATOV – Basil in Don Quixote, L.Minkus/A.Fadeechev (after A.Gorsky and M.Petipa). Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. LEE DONG-HOON – Albert in Giselle, A.Adam/P.Bart; Romeo in Romeo and Julet S.Prokofiev/J.- Ch.Maillot; Prince in Nutcracker, P.Chaikovski/Y.Grigorovitch. Korea National Ballet. CHASE FINLAY – Apollo, I.Stravinsky/G.Balanchine. New York City Ballet. MATHIAS HEYMANN - Zaȅl in La Source, L.Minkus. L.Délibes. National Paris Opera. CARSTEN JUNG – The title role in Liliom, M.Legrand/J.Neumeier. Hamburg Ballet (Germany). COMPOSERS MICHEL LEGRAND – Liliom, choreograph John Neumeier. Hamburg Ballet (Germany). SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY – Ocean’s Kingdom, choreograph Peter Martins. New York City Ballet. The jury members for this year’s awards are: Co-chairs, Yuri Grigorovich, (choreographer of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia) and John Neumeier, director of the Hamburg Ballet (Germany). Members: Altynai Asylmuratova, artistic director of the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg; Laurent Hilaire, ballet master and deputy director of the Paris Opera Ballet; Kim Joo-won, prima ballerina of the Korea National Ballet of Seoul; Manuel Legris, artistic director of the Vienna State Ballet; Alessandra Ferri, director of the ballet program , of Festival dei 2 Mondi in Spoleto (Italy) and Jorma Elo, resident choreographer of the Boston Ballet (USA). The jury is changed each year to give the Award a representative sample of experts from throughout the world. The participants in the May 23 gala titled “Stars of the Benois de la Danse” will be: Lucia Lacarra (Benois laureate) and Marlon Dino of the Bavarian State Ballet; Svetlana Zakharova (Benois laureate) and Andrey Merkuriev of the Bolshoi theater of Russia; Bernice Coppieters (Benois laureate) and Chris Roeland of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo; Hélène Bouchet (Benois laureate) and Carsten Jung of the Hamburg Ballet; Uliana Lopatkina (Benois laureate) and Danila Korsuntsev of the Mariinsky theater; Marie Agnès Gillot (Benois laureate), Laëtitia Pujol and Hervé Moreau (Benois laureate) of the National Paris Opera, Fernando Romero (Benois laureate)of Spain, Wang Di (Benois laureate) of China and Drew Jacoby with Rubinald Pronk of USA and Netherlands .