The first Budapest Ballet Grand Prix finals took place on Thursday 23 November at the National Dance Theatre in front of a full house. Out of a field of 89, 30 competitors from seven countries made it to the final.
Those who missed out on the final were not left without consolation, as on Thursday the young ballet artists had the opportunity to consult the jury members.
Photo by Patrik Tomasik and Zsófi Falcz
In the evening programme, BBGP Competition Director Tamás Nagy welcomed the audience in Hungarian and thanked them for their interest. He then introduced the members of the jury in English and encouraged the audience to express their appreciation by applause or ovation, as this could influence the judges’ decision. Finally the President of the Arts Council of the Hungarian Dance University, the competitor director of the BBGP, wished the audience a good time and opened the finale with a ceremony.
The junior category started with the 105th competitor, followed by fourteen other performances.
The finals continued with the Pas de Deux category, where three couples proved their skills. The category representatives left the stage to great applause, and their performances were well received by the audience. Of course, this did not mean that the jury members felt the same way, but it was nice to hear…
Finally, after a short break, the twelve finalists in the senior category took to the stage, with Paraguay, Portugal, Japan, Korea and Hungary competing in the finals.
Afterwards, the decision was made and the results were announced.
The jury decided the winners of the first edition of the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix:
Junior category
1. Núria Fernandes – Conservatório Internacional de Ballet e Dança Annarella Sanchez
2. Eloy Gil Vicente – Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Fortea
3. Németh Lili – Hungarian Dance University
Senior category
1. Porkoláb Cecília – Hungarian National Ballet Institute
2. Eunseo Kim – Kyunghee University
3. Ezgi Toydemir- Hungarian Dance University
Pas de Deux category
1. Rio Nakata and Wisse Scheele – Bolshoi Ballet Academy
2. Saito Hiraku and Yu-Rou Chiang – Hungarian Dance University
3. Kamill Kökény-Hámori and Dobra Janka – Hungarian Dance University
Hungarian Dance University (HDU) Special Award to José Barbeiro of Junior category.
Best Hungarian Performance by the Hungarian Academy of Arts: Nagy Gvendolin
Best contemporary performance by the Herend Porcelain Manufactory: Valeria González Maidana
Young Talent – Solo by the Municipality of Budapest: Balog Márton
Young Talent – Pas de deux by the Municipality of Budapest: Dobra Janka, Kökény-Hámori Kamill
dancewear coupon of 200 euros by iDanceStore: Nagy Gvendolin
Global Dance Open direct entry: Balog Márton, Benedetta Maria Carrara, Nakos Míra Evanthia
The closing event of the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix, the Gala, will take place on Friday at 19:00 at Müpa Budapest, with the Győr Ballet. All tickets for the event are sold out.
Congratulations to all participants and winners!
