NY BALLET COMPETITION IS WORLDLY AFFAIR.

FEW COMPETITION organizers say, "The medal is not important," as emphatically as Ilona Copen, founder and director of the New York International Ballet Competition. Most contests climax at the awards ceremony, but here, just being invited to compete defines success. This month, twenty-four competitors will spend three weeks working with master teachers and coaches at the sixth NYIBC at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Competitors are chosen from a pool of fifty international applicants, representing twenty countries, including the Dominican Republic, Israel, Iceland, Mongolia and Lithuania.

"The New York International Ballet Competition is different from all others because we are the only competition where the repertory is taught here in New York. The dancers don't know what the repertory is going to be until they get here," said Copen, whose Manhattan office is a stone's throw from City Center, where the dancers take class, and Alice Tully, where the dancers compete. "This is much more than a competition. It is an unbelievable learning experience."

Copen founded the event in 1984 and has been steadfast in her mission: "What's important here is the process: the learning, the sharing. It's not just an opportunity to dance on the stage, but an opportunity for many of these dancers to come out of their countries for the first time and to be in New York, be with all of these other dancers from all over the world, and have the opportunity to work with marvelous coaches and teachers and experience something other than their isolated area. For many of them, it's quite an eye-opener because many are the best where they're coming from, and all of a sudden they are thrown in with twenty-three other couples. They're in the same studio with the same teachers and coaches, learning the same steps. It's very exciting for them: Most are like sponges. It's a wonderful growing experience. For many of them, it's life-changing."

Cultural attaches in various countries send information about NYIBC to appropriate studios and companies. Contestants' expenses are covered by the $500,000 NYIBC budget: "It's very important that the dancers are all treated the same," Copen said. Many leave NYIBC with plans for the future: Over half of the previous participants have been offered contracts with major national and international companies. "Company directors come and word gets out very quickly. Our dancers have gone to almost every company: The Royal, Paris Opera Ballet, ABT, New York City Ballet." Jose Manuel Carreno, a principal with ABT, won the Gold Medal in 1987. Anita Pacylowski, a principal with North Carolina Dance Theatre, competed in 1990. Bernard Courtot de Bouteiller won the silver in 1993 and is now a principal with Miami City Ballet. Gillian Murphy and Carlos Molina, both in ABT, competed in 1996.

The main requirement for application is age: Men must be between 18 and 24, women between 17 and 23. Based on photographs (five from each dancer), three letters of recommendation and an application form, twenty-four couples are chosen to attend NYIBC. Copen doesn't request videotapes because, she said, she believes they would eliminate people from the running for economic reasons. Accepted applicants come to New York and begin learning the repertory on June 5; two weeks later they compete. "We're planning to do a Balanchine piece, an Ailey piece and a Petipa," Copen said. "We have always felt that in today's world, a dancer in a ballet company has to be able to do everything--Taylor, Tharp, Balanchine, Petipa, Kudelka, Kylian."

This year's nine judges include Cynthia Gregory (president of the jury), Carla Fracci and Boris Eifman.