ALONSO, FERRI, ABT DUO WIN TOP HONORS IN STUTTGART.A LARGE CONTINGENT of political big shots and several ballet luminaries-including Natalia Bessmertnova Natalia Igorevna Bessmertnova was the legendary Soviet prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet. History She was born in Moscow on July 19, 1941 and later trained in the famous Bolshoi Moscow Ballet School from 1953 to 1961. , Nadia Nerina Nadia Nerina (born Cape Town; 21 October 1927) is a retired South African ballerina. She was born Nadine Judd and only began taking ballet lessons because of her weak feet [1]. , Doris Laine, Konstanze Vernon, Alexander Grant and Ivan Liska--contributed to the glittery atmosphere of the ninth annual Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition founded by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1991. It takes place each year on or around April 29 and is jury-based in its judging. The members of this jury change every year and consists of only top ballet personages. 2000 gala. The event, founded by the International Dance Association, rewards the accomplishments of dancers worldwide not with money but with statuettes. It was held April 29 (the birthday of late choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre) at the Stuttgart Opera House, hosted by Reid Anderson, general manager of the Stuttgart Ballet, and presided over by Yuri Grigorovitch, head of the jury. The lifetime achievement award went to Alicia Alonso, while the dancers' prizes were divided among Italian ballerina Alessandra Ferri (who was absent due to a recent performance injury), Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opéra Ballet is the official ballet company of the Opéra national de Paris, otherwise known as the Palais Garnier, though known more popularly simply as the Paris Opéra. etoile Jean-Guillaume Bart (who was absent due to an engagement that night), and American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. principal dancers Julie Kent and Angel Corella, who performed Robert Hill's Baroque Game. Two prizes went to Diversity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness: Jaffar Chalabi won for his design, and Nacho Duato (who performed one of the parts) was honored for his choreography, which debuted a year ago on his own Compania Nacional de Danse. Paul Lightfoot's stark Speak For Yourself, a study of dancing in the rain set on six members of Netherlands Dance Theater, was nominated but did not win; nor did Jean-Christophe Maillot's detailed Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers die as teenagers. [Br. Lit.: Romeo and Juliet] See : Death, Premature Romeo and Juliet archetypal star-crossed lovers. [Br. Lit. pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or , performed by Essen's Taciana Cascelli and German Opera Berlin guest Raimondo Rebeck. The most hilarious contribution was Christian Spuck's Le Grand Pas de Deux, a string of involuntary accidents (a la Jerome Robbins's The Concert), danced with tongue-in-cheek comic flair by nominee Robert Tewsley and his Stuttgart partner Julia Kraemer. The most emotional moment, meanwhile, followed Heinz Spoerli's Midsummer Night's Dream pas de deux, performed by nominee Margaret Illmann and Rebeck. In a show of support, Stuttgart Ballet fans showered Illmann, who was recently ousted from Stuttgart Ballet following a clash with management, with dozens of small bouquets. |
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