And the Winners of the 2016 Benois de la Danse Are…

May 18, 2016


Photo via the Bolshoi Theatre.

With its glitz, glamour and funny statues, the Benois de la Danse has a lot in common with the awards show it’s often compared to: the Oscars. While we’re all for gowns and red carpets, we prefer tutus and opera houses—much like the Bolshoi Theatre where, on Tuesday, Yury Grigorovich announced the jury’s winners.

The nominees, hailing from countries and companies worldwide, were recognized for their outstanding achievements in ballet performance and creation. But there could only be a few victors. So, without further ado, the awards for the 2016 Benois de la Danse go to:

Best Female Dancer

Alicia Amatriain
of Stuttgart Ballet (Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar named Desire and The Devil in The Soldier’s Tale)

Hannah O’Neill
of the Paris Opéra Ballet (Title role in Paquita)


O’Neill with Mathias Heymann in La Bayadère . Photo by Little Shao courtesy of POB via Dance Magazine.

Best Male Dancer

Kimin Kim
of the Mariinsky Ballet (Solor in La Bayadère at POB)

Best Choreographer

Yuri Possokhov (Hero of Our Time, Bolshoi Ballet)

Johan Inger (Carmen, Compañia Nacional de Danza and One on One, Nederlands Dans Theater)

Benois-Moscow-Massine-Positano Prize

Ekaterina Krysanova
of Bolshoi Ballet

Great Partnering Artistry Prize

Oleksandr Ryabko of Hamburg Ballet

Lifetime Achievement Award

John Neumeier
, choreographer and Hamburg Ballet artistic director

Edward Watson
of The Royal Ballet

Best Scenographer

Ren Dongsheng, (Emperor Yu Li, Beijing Dance Academy)

 


Possokhov demonstrates a partnering sequence on Bolshoi dancers. Photo by Quinn Wharton via Dance Magazine.

It seems like the jury couldn’t pick just one winner for the Best Female Dancer and Best Choreographer categories. (How does one rate different degrees of flawlessness?) The Americans—Amar Ramasar, Sara Mearns and Justin Peck, all nominated for Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes—didn’t top the list. But Yuri Possokhov is a bit of a Russian expat in America; he’s been San Francisco Ballet’s resident choreographer since his retirement from the company in 2006.

With the busy spring performance season well underway, we’re already keeping an eye out for potential 2017 standouts.

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