THE VALENTINA KOZLOVA INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION

The Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition (VKIBC) celebrated its thirteenth year at The Kaye Playhouse with a GALA performance. Two hundred young classical ballet and contemporary dancers, ages 9 to 26, from countries around the world, performed on stage, hoping for future contracts and scholarships with dance academies and companies judging from the audience. 

The evening began with Kozlova’s daughter introducing the evening, followed by a film (supported with music by Rimsky Korsakov) of  the young Valentina Kozlova and her partner Leonid Kozlov dancing in the U.S. following their 1979 defection. She then appeared on stage in real life, elegant in a red satin gown, dancing a pas de deux to Chopin with her male partner, Andrei Jouravlev, (a faculty member of Joffrey Ballet School’s Trainee program). With assured grace and a lifetime of dance knowledge, the two shared space with warm connection, ending with Kozlova lifted, soaring into the wings.  (This performance also marks Kozlova’s celebration of her 45 year dance career as a principal dancer with companies like New York City Ballet.

Very young dancers from all over the world were amazing! An ensemble of six impressive Japanese female dancers started the roster of short pieces, dressed in red robes, and black toe shoes with flying long black hair. Dancers holding drum sticks, hit the floor and clacked the sticks together, accompanying the percussive sound score. 

Solo performances continued, with a South Korean twelve year old, Bom Park, elegantly dancing excerpts from Sleeping Beauty;  Sarah Kusek, a fourteen year old from Poland dancing classical Paquita A thirteen year old boy from Canada, Loren Hwang, demonstrated the maturity and skill of a much older male, performing an excerpt from Swan Lake. Many classical pieces were on the program.  Dancers from Belgium, Poland, Brazil, Bulgaria, and Cyprus, were also represented, all exquisitely trained in technique and performance qualities. 

This year, the 2024 Competition introduced a new category called Free Style Dance, in which dancers were encouraged to showcase their unique styles and interpretations of the music, ranging from classical to pop.  Two “modern dancers” in this category stood out: YoonSeo Chang from South Korea, performed a piece entitled Deer Eyes, and thirteen year old Bianca Bubeck from Brazil dancing Incessantly, in a tight white tunic with black underneath, strikingly began with her back to the audience as she walked upstage before the dance developed. 

After about twenty-five short solos and duets, the evening concluded with an ensemble of twenty from Brazil dancing Outonal. Males and females, wore skirts that change to short biker shorts and tube bras, arousing the audience to cheers and applause before the entire group of performers and Kozlova return for final bows. 

One would have wanted these dancers to have had more professional lighting to support their efforts and a program in hand to see their names, choreographic, musical and costume credits in print.  The evening showcased brilliant young dancers with star studded futures ahead of them, and reminded this writer of the congratulations due Valentina Kozlova  who shepherds such a project each year. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Mary Seidman