The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and it consists of only top ballet personages.

Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of lifelong achievement, ballerina, danseur, choreographer, composer and designer.

The Benois de la Danse earns a cash prize of $1,000,000, as well as exceptional events occurring during the previous year on stages around the world. These include dancing roles of all kinds as well as choreographic accomplishments.

History

The idea for the Benois de la Danse was initiated in Moscow and the founders succeeded in obtaining the patronage of UNESCO in the autumn of 1992. Its scheduling at the end of April is meant to coincide with the birthday of the great Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) for whom it is named.

French sculptor Igor Ustinov designed the statuette of the Benois de la Danse award in 1992. He is the son of the famous actor Peter Ustinov, a great-nephew of Alexandre Benois.

Goals of competition

To give the Benois audience the best performances of the works that have been entered, regardless of whom they were created by. To bring the best representatives of different dance styles and schools together. To support veterans of ballet financially, with funds from the gala concerts

Members of the Benois de la Danse jury have included

Alessandra Ferri Alexander Grant Altynai Asylmuratova Claude Bessy Brigitte Lefèvre Carla Fracci Davide Bombana Frank Anderson Galina Ulanova Helgi Tomasson Irina Kolpakova John Neumeier John Taras Karen Kain Laurent Hilaire Loipa Araújo Nadia Nerina Patrice Bart Peter Schaufuss Rudi van Dantzig Rudolph Nureyev Sofia Golovkina Yuri Grigorovich Yvette Chauviré Vladimir Malakhov

Laureates of the prize

Source:Prix Benois de la Danse, Laureates Composers George Kouroupos (1996) Michel Legrand (2012) Joby Talbot (2015) Ilya Demutsky (2018)

Designers Olivier Debré (1998) Jaffar Chalabi (2000) Jurgen Rose (2002) Carlos Gallardo (2007) John Macfarlane (2015) Ren Dongsheng (2016) Kirill Serebrennikov (2018)

Prix "Benois-Moscow Massine-Positano" Ana Laguna (2015) Edward Watson (2015) Ekaterina Krysanova (2016) Maria Kochetkova (2018)

For High Artistry in Partnership Alexandre Riabko (2016)

Lifetime achievement Name (Nationality)YearCountryCompanyTraining Alicia Alonso 2000 National Ballet of Cuba (after New York City Ballet) Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical Rudi van Dantzig 2002 Dutch National Ballet Anna Sybranda, Sonia Gaskell William Forsythe () 2002 Stuttgart Ballet Joffrey Ballet School Mikhail Baryshnikov () 2003 American Ballet Theatre (after Mariinsky Ballet) Vaganova Academy Maurice Béjart 2003 Béjart Ballet Lausanne Paris Opera Ballet School Marina Semyonova 2003 Bolshoi Ballet (after Mariinsky Ballet) Vaganova Academy Trisha Brown 2005 Trisha Brown Dance Company Mills College Hans van Manen 2005 Dutch National Ballet Sonia Gaskell, Françoise Adret Mats Ek 2006 Cullberg Ballet Laurent Hilairerepeat prize winner 2007 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Fernando Alonso 2008 National Ballet of Cuba (after New York City Ballet) Peter Farmer 2010 Ohad Naharin 2010 Batsheva Dance Company Batsheva Dance Company, Juilliard School & School of American Ballet Toer van Schayk 2011 Dutch National Ballet Irail Gadescov, Sonia Gaskell Pierre Lacotte 2012 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School John Neumeier () 2013 Hamburg Ballet (after Frankfurt Ballet & Stuttgart Ballet) Vera Volkova, Royal Ballet School Brigitte Lefèvre 2014 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Sylvie Guillem () 2015 Royal Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School John Neumeier () 2016 Hamburg Ballet Vera Volkova, Royal Ballet School Edward Watson 2016 Royal Ballet Royal Ballet School Marcia Haydée 2017 Ballet de Santiago Royal Ballet School, Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (Monaco) Natalia Makarova 2018 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Jiří Kylián 2019

Ballerinas Name (Nationality)YearCountryCompanyTraining Nadezhda Gracheva 1992 Bolshoi Ballet Kazakh Ballet School, Moscow State College of Choreography Isabelle Guérin 1993 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Sylvie Guillem () 1994 Royal ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Galina Stepanenko 1995 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Dominique Khalfouni 1995 Ballet National de Marseille (after Paris Opera Ballet) Paris Opera Ballet School Diana Vishneva 1996 Mariinsky BalletYulia Makhalina 1998 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Ulyana Lopatkina 1997 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Marie-Claude Pietragalla 1998 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Élisabeth Platel 1999 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Sue Jin Kang () 1999 Stuttgart Ballet Académie de Danse Classique in Monte Carlo Julie Kent 2000 American Ballet Theatre Academy of the Maryland Youth Ballet, School of American Ballet Alessandra Ferri 2000 La Scala Theatre Ballet (after Royal Ballet & American Ballet Theatre) La Scala Theatre Ballet School Aurélie Dupont 2002 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Anastasia Volochkova 2002 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Lucia Lacarra () 2003 Bayerisches Staatsballett Víctor Ullate School of Danse Alina Cojocarurepeat prize winner () 2004 Royal Ballet Kyiv State Ballet School Svetlana Zakharova () 2005 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Marie-Agnès Gillot 2005 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Ekaterina Kondaurova 2006 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Kim Joo-won 2006 Korea National Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Agnès Letestu 2007 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Svetlana Lunkina 2007 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Tamara Rojo () 2008 from Royal Ballet (for the Teatro San Carlo) Madrid Royal Conservatory of Dance Silvia Azzoni () 2008 Hamburg Ballet Baletna Skola, Hamburg Ballet School Natalia Osipova 2009 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Kirsty Martin 2009 Australian Ballet Australian Ballet School Hélène Bouchet () 2010 Hamburg Ballet École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower, École Nationale de Danse de Marseille Bernice Coppieters () 2011 Ballets de Monte-Carlo Royal Ballet School of Flanders, Juilliard School Zhu Yan 2011 National Ballet of China Beijing Dance Academy Alina Cojocarurepeat prize winner () 2012 from Royal Ballet (for the Hamburg Ballet) Kyiv State Ballet School Olga Smirnova 2013 Bolshoi Ballet Vaganova Academy Polina Semionova () 2014 American Ballet Theatre Bolshoi Ballet Academy Mariko Kida () 2014 Royal Swedish Ballet San Francisco Ballet School Svetlana Zakharova () 2015 Bolshoi Ballet Vaganova Academy Alicia Amatriain () 2016 Stuttgart Ballet John Cranko School Hannah O'Neill () 2016 Paris Opera Ballet Australian Ballet School Ludmila Pagliero () 2017 Paris Opera Ballet Instituto Superior de Arte of Teatro Colón Maria Riccetto 2017 National Ballet of Uruguay Uruguay National Ballet School Sae Eun Park () 2018 Paris Opera Ballet Korea National Academy of Ballet Elisa Carrillo Cabrera 2019 Staatsballett Berlin Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura Ashley Bouder 2019 New York City Ballet School of American Ballet Not Awarded 2020 Amandine Albisson 2021 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Ekaterina Krysanova 2021 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Not Awarded 2022 Misun Kang 2023 Universal Ballet, South Korea Qiu Yunting 2023 National Ballet of China

Danseurs Name (Nationality)YearCountryCompanyTraining Julio Bocca 1992 Ballet Argentino Instituto Superior de Arte of Teatro Colón Alexander Kølpin 1992 Royal Danish Ballet Royal Danish Ballet School Andrei Uvarov 1993 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Sergei Filin 1994 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Nicolas Le Riche 1995 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Irek Mukhamedov () 1996 The Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Vladimir Derevianko () 1996 Sächsischen Staatsoper Dresden Bolshoi Ballet Academy Gregor Seyffert 1997 Komische Oper Berlin Berlin State Ballet School Farukh Ruzimatov 1997 Mariinsky Ballet Vaganova Academy Manuel Legris 1998 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Vladimir Malakhov () 1998 Stuttgart Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Nikolay Tsiskaridze 1999 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Jean-Guillaume Bart 2000 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Ángel Corella () 2000 American Ballet Theatre Víctor Ullate School of Danse Jeffrey Gerodias 2002 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Boston Conservatory, The Ailey School Jiří Bubeníček () 2002 Hamburg Ballet Prague Dance Conservatory Lukáš Slavický () 2003 Bavarian State Ballet Prague Dance Conservatory Laurent Hilaire 2004 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Lloyd Riggins () 2004 Hamburg Ballet Orlando Southern Ballet School Mathieu Ganio 2005 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Di Wang 2006 from Guangzhou Dance company (for the Nagoya International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition) Revolutionary Army of China Art College Leonid Sarafanov 2006 from Mariinsky Ballet (for the Vienna State Opera Ballet) Kyiv State Ballet School Hervé Moreau 2007 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Marcelo Gomes () 2008 American Ballet Theatre Helena Lobato and Dalal Aschcar Ballet Schools Carlos Acosta () 2008 from The Royal Ballet (for the Bolshoi Ballet) Cuban National Ballet School Ivan Vasiliev 2009 Bolshoi Ballet Belarusian State Choreographic College Joaquín De Luz () 2009 New York City Ballet Víctor Ullate School of Danse David Hallberg 2010 American Ballet Theatre Ballet Arizona School Thiago Bordin () 2010 Hamburg Ballet Mannheim Academy of Dance Fernando Romero 2011 Lope de Vega Theatre Manolo Marín Dance School (Academia de Bailie de Monolo Marin) Rolando Sarabia () 2011 Miami City Ballet Cuban National Ballet School Semyon Chudin 2011 Stanislavsky Ballet Company Novosibirsk State Ballet School Mathias Heymann 2012 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Carsten Jung 2012 Hamburg Ballet Palucca School of Dance, The School of the Hamburg Ballet Alban Lendorf 2013 Royal Danish Ballet Royal Danish Ballet School Vadim Muntagirov () 2013 English National Ballet Perm Ballet School, Royal Ballet School Herman Cornejo () 2014 American Ballet Theatre Instituto Superior de Arte at Teatro Colón Edward Watson 2015 The Royal Ballet Royal Ballet School Kim Kimin () 2016 Mariinsky Ballet Korea National University of Arts Hugo Marchand 2017 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School Denis Rodkin 2017 Bolshoi Ballet Moscow State Academic Dance Theatre of Dance Gzhel Isaac Hernández () 2018 English National Ballet The Rock School for Dance EducationVladislav Lantratov 2018 Bolshoi Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Academy Vadim Muntagirov () 2019 The Royal Ballet Perm Ballet School, Royal Ballet School Not awarded 2020 Jesus Carmona 2021 Compañia Jesús Carmona Not awarded 2022 Hugo Marchand 2023 Paris Opera Ballet Paris Opera Ballet School

Choreographers