How Interpreters Help Dancers Succeed at International Ballet Competitions
Ballet often acts as a universal language, and many are drawn to dancing for its ability to transcend the need for words. But what happens when you find yourself at a competition far away from home, unable to understand a teacher or coach’s words and lost in a barrage of phrases or metaphors specific to a language that is not at all universal?
Enter the interpreter. (Experts refer to “translation” as dealing with written words, whereas “interpreters” work in spoken language.) Though some competitions, like the Varna IBC in Bulgaria, do not offer interpretation services, a number of others do. At the Youth America Grand Prix finals, for example, representatives for the largest international groups (Japan, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico) help participants navigate competition logistics and Grand Defilé rehearsals. The USA IBC in Jackson, Mississippi, provides volunteer interpreters at their technical rehearsals and orientation, and, in Switzerland, the Prix de Lausanne recruits volunteers who interpret during group classes and one-on-one coaching sessions.
Below, Pointe caught up with two longtime ballet interpreters for a crash course on how the job is done.
Say What They Mean, Not (Exactly) What They Say
Shared understanding of ballet’s French terminology can sometimes make things easier: “Everyone knows the ballet terms,” says Kaori Noda, a ballet teacher and Japanese interpreter for Prix de Lausanne. “I don’t need to translate those.”
But in other instances, a correction in one language will make no sense when translated to another.
Cássia Lopes, a Portuguese interpreter for the Prix de Lausanne and the Brazilian coordinator of its 2025 Latin America preselection, is a teacher and coach at Harlem School of the Arts. She relies on her dance background to decide what words to use. “As a teacher, it’s easy for you to understand the correction the coach wants,” Lopes says. Rather than interpreting someone’s words directly, Lopes aims to understand what the coach is asking for and then uses expressions that make the most sense for the student’s native Portuguese.
“I can help them because I have the knowledge,” she says. “I’m not going to translate [directly], I’m going to tell them in the ‘teacher’s way.’ ”
This “teacher’s way” understanding is important to Prix organizers, and a competition representative has noted that the majority of the organization’s interpreters come from dance backgrounds.
Different Settings, Different Needs
Tactics shift depending on different competition settings. Group classes, for example, can become overwhelming if interpreters speak too much. In 2025, the Prix provided interpretation for Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and Japanese, which means that, including English, there could be as many as five languages being spoken at once.
“The priority is we cannot disturb other students, because so many languages are there,” Noda says. As a result, she tries to stay nearby the Japanese students and interprets only when they become confused.
During the one-on-one coaching, however, Noda has more room to focus. She must also move faster. “They only have seven minutes for one person, so I cannot wait to decide what to say,” she says.
Cultural Translation
Interpreters often act as intermediaries for students struggling with cultural differences while they are far from home, especially if they are unaccompanied or if the teachers and families with them do not speak English.
Lopes observes teachers and judges in classes and coaching sessions and then speaks in Portuguese with students who need help. “I can read the way the judge is moving [when observing class], where they are looking,” she says. Sharing this insight with students, she adds, and telling them what to expect when it’s their turn, helps them understand the teacher and get an idea of what the judges are expecting that year. This calms everyone’s nerves, and ensures the students feel at their best when it’s time to take the stage.
“Thank You for Remembering Me”
A interpreter’s skill can make or break someone’s competition experience, which means many alums still remember the good ones, like Noda and Lopes.
During her first year at the Prix, in 2020, Lopes helped interpret for Miguel Artur Alves Oliveira, now a dancer with Germany’s Bundesjugendballett. Oliviera returned to the competition in 2025, this time as a coach.
“When he saw me, he came running and said, ‘I’m so glad to see you,’ and he gave me a hug,” Lopes says. “That was very nice.”
Noda celebrated her 20th year as a Prix interpreter in 2025, and as such has many similar memories, including meeting former candidates at events in Japan and other countries abroad.
“Sometimes they realize it’s me and then wave,” she says. “That’s my treasure. Thank you for remembering me.”
