NYIBC Gala, March 22, 2011
Celebrating the life and work of Ilona Copen
Honoring Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux & Patricia McBride
Photo credit: Marbeth
New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC) celebrates the life and work of Ilona Copen, late Founder and Executive Director Emerita, with a Gala Performance followed by a Dinner Dance. Featured artists at the Gala Performance include dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet, Limón Dance Company, New Jersey Ballet and North Carolina Dance Theatre.
This star-studded gala will have several NYIBC alumni amongst the participating artists: Jose Manuel Carreño (ABT), Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili (JB) and Junio Teixeira (NJB). Roxane D'Orleans Juste, an NYIBC coach,will also be a guest artist. Other star performers include Alessandra Ball and Abdul Manzano (NCDT), Ana Luiza Luizi (NJ Ballet), Flavia Garcia and DaVon Doane (DTH), and Matthew Rushing (AAADT).
A highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the first Ilona Copen Award to Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride.
Gala Performance and Dinner Dance / Award Presentation tickets, click here .
Performance tickets only, click here .
For more information, call the NYIBC office at 212-956-1520, or email us at nyibc@nyibc.org with NYIBC GALA TICKETS in the subject line.
Ilona Copen
During her lifetime, Ilona Copen worked tirelessly to unite dancers throughout the world and to encourage and educate young dancers. She was deeply committed to inspiring and changing their lives. A wise and experienced leader, she combined professional excellence with warmth and generosity. It was always her hope that NYIBC participants would go home better dancers and better people. In addition to her full-time position as Executive Director of NYIBC, Ms. Copen was a Board member of World Dance Alliance. As President of the International Theatre Institute's International Dance Committee, she created an extraordinary annual celebration of International Dance Day at UNESCO. She also served as an invaluable Board member and advisor to numerous dance companies. Giving back was at the core of everything she did. Ms. Copen radiated the vitality of a dancer. She always reminded us, with boundless energy and zeal, that Dance is a natural and essential form of expression to be practiced and enjoyed by everyone.
Ilona Copen Award
The Ilona Copen Award is an annual, honorary award, celebrating the significant contribution to the ballet field by an individual, company or institution who or which provides young ballet dancers with: the finest educational, mentoring and cultural experiences; inspiration and encouragement to advance their careers to their fullest potential, raising their artistry, and stimulating their growth as an individual human beings.
The Award honors a recipient who or which works to further ballet as an art form by: discovering, nurturing and developing underexposed dance/ballet talent; promoting international understanding and goodwill through collaborative efforts across different artistic disciplines; upholding the traditions and history of this classical art form; and securing its future through fostering the advancement of ballet.
New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC)
Educating, mentoring and providing performance and career advancement opportunities since 1984. This bi-annual event provides forty-eight full scholarships to talented young ballet dancers from all over the world.
Founded by Ilona Copen and Igor Youskevitch
NYIBC is a three-week intensive professional training and artistic education program that identifies and nurtures promising dancers ages 17 to 24 from all nationalities and ethnicities. NYIBC's unique format distinguishes it from all other international ballet competitions. On arrival, the dancers learn the set repertory they will dance. This provides the highest standards of fairness. NYIBC gives its participants with an exceptional opportunity to completely focus on training to perform at their highest artistic level. Artistic directors and choreographers hire NYIBC participants because they know a dancer who has been trained and mentored at NYIBC can endure the rhythm of work and life in a ballet company.
The illustrious panel of international judges awards Gold, Silver and Bronze medals accompanied by monetary prizes, as well as the Lefkowitz Award for dancers with special attributes. The Igor Youskevitch Award and the Arpino Award are offered at the discretion of Kevin McKenzie and Ashley Wheater, Artistic Directors of American Ballet Theatre and Joffrey Ballet, respectively. Beyond performance and career advancement opportunities, the dancers form a diverse international company from which lifelong associations are born.
The 11th NYIBC will take place June 4-24, 2012. Visit www.nyibc.org for more information.
Member World Dance Alliance (WDA). Under the auspices of the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI/UNESCO)
Photo by Whitney Browne.
