Ulyana lopatkina vs svetlana zakharova biography

In the late 1960s, three now-legendary figures in the world of Russian dance, ballerinas Galina Ulanova and Olga Lepeshinskaya and choreographer Igor Moiseyev, banded together in Moscow to found a competition for young dancers.

Called simply the International Competition for Artists of the Ballet, the event was first held in 1969, and among its first gold-medalists were Mikhail Baryshnikov and long-time Paris Opera Ballet premier danseur and choreographer Patrice Bart.

The competition has since been held every four years, with former Bolshoi Theater ballet artistic director Yury Grigorovich taking over from Ulanova as chairman of the jury in 1973 and acting as its guiding light ever since.

In 2005, the competition added a contest for choreographers.

This year, the 12th competition began on&