The 15th edition of the International Ballet Competition has opened at the Bolshoi Theatre in the Russian capital Moscow, dedicated to honouring the memory of the late Yuri Grigorovich.
The opening ceremony was attended by senior official figures, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, and competition jury president and People's Artist Svetlana Zakharova.
The competition opened its programme, as reported by the Russia Today website, with a performance of the ballet Legend of Love, composed by Arif Melikov and directed by Yuri Grigorovich (in the Mariinsky Theatre version).
The principal roles in this production — which was first performed in March 1961 — were interpreted by a selection of stars: Victoria Tereshkina (Mekhmeneh Banu), Renata Shakirova (Shirin), principal dancer Kimin Kim (Farhad), and first soloist Roman Belyakov (the Vizier).
The current edition of the competition has attracted 158 participants representing 30 countries around the world, selected from among 362 applications submitted from 35 countries, including Australia, Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Kyrgyzstan.