The students of the Hungarian Dance University (HDU) achieved three third places and a fourth place at the European Ballet Grand Prix held in Vienna between 7 and 9 February. Two of them were offered to participate in a summer course. All the six HDU students finished in the top 10 at the competition.
The European Ballet Grand Prix is an international ballet competition held in Vienna each year since 2017. The event, which is organised for dancers aged between 7 and 26 years, was founded by Simona Noja-Nebyla and Boris Nebyla, who are former principal and solo dancers of the Vienna State Opera. Six students from the Hungarian Dance University participated in the competition under the direction of Professor Zoltán Oláh.
Participants from HDU were Réka Papp-Fekete (fifth year, teacher: Márta Fodor-Molnár, Krisztina Végh), Míra Nakos (fifth year, teacher: Márta Fodor-Molnár, Krisztina Végh), Boróka Kosaras (sixth year, teacher: Angéla Kövessy), Anastasia Dokic (seventh year, teacher: Eszter Kazinczy), Iza Fasun (seventh year, teacher: Eszter Kazinczy) and Márton Balogh (fourth year, teacher: Edina Dorkó).
Because of the large number of categories, the competition was a one-round event, and the results were determined on that basis. HDU students took to the stage on Thursday and performed well, achieving several excellent results.
Teenage group:
3rd place: Míra Nakos (teachers: Márta Fodor-Molnár and Krisztina Végh)
Junior age group:
2nd place: Anastasija Dokic (teacher: Eszter Kazinczy)
3rd place: Iza Fasun (teacher: Eszter Kazinczy)
Boróka Kosaras finished 4th (teacher: Angéla Kövessy).
Boróka Kosaras and Márton Balogh were offered to participate in the Summer Intensive Course in Algarve, Portugal.
Overall, all six HDU students finished in the top 10 based on their scores.
Zoltán Oláh, Kossuth Prize-winning ballet artist and university professor commented on the students’ results.
“This was the second time I accompanied our students to the Vienna competition, so I was able to prepare the children for what they could expect. The European Ballet Grand Prix is a well-organised, predictable competition. There was no separate ballet class, I gave them the warm-up but the children were able to prepare for the performance. There are many categories and each category has amateur and professional, so it was a one-round competition. We of course competed in the professional category. Our results were good, but what also struck me and several foreign masters was how strong the stage performance of the students of the Hungarian Dance University was. I felt this was an excellent feedback. We offer a diverse training and our students perform on stage without any frills or ostentation. Their technique is also strong, but they also have a very strong artistic presence on stage and are able to dance in a diverse way. Many people notice this and told me about it, which was nice to hear. More importantly, the sensitive performance style, nuances and stylistic richness in their solos is promising for the children’s future. Their taste shows and they are really much closer to the adult level than the beginner.”
Congratulations to the winners and their teachers.
