Great final, excellent ballet artists at the 2nd Budapest Ballet Grand Prix

On Thursday 21 November, the finals of the 2nd Budapest Ballet Grand Prix took place at the National Dance Theatre, receiving considerable interest. The finals were held in Budapest, where 35 ballet dancers from fourteen countries were selected from 80 artists from 31 countries.

Before the finals took place, one of the best-known members of the jury and international ballet scene, Italian Federico Bonelli, former soloist with the Royal Ballet of London and Artistic Director of the UK’s Northern Ballet had said that external perspectives can often help overcome obstacles and give an artist new perspectives. The participants received feedback from a very prestigious panel of judges, but apart from the personal results, the consensus was that the artistic standard was high and there were several really great performances. The National Dance Theatre proved to be a fantastic venue for the competition this year as well, but Friday’s Gala will take place at the Müpa Budapest Festival Theatre with the best of the finalists.

The question on Thursday afternoon was, who will be the best? Before answering the question, however, we also had the chance to find out how to be the best for a long time. The lecture titled “The Art of performance”, ballet artist Megan Fairchild, principal dancer at New York City Ballet, author of the book “The Ballerina Mindset”, shared her thoughts on mental and physical health development with great success. It was good to see that several members of the jury listened to the symposium and even had serious questions.

Photo by Hype

In the evening programme, Tamás Nagy, Chairman of the Artistic Council of the Hungarian Dance University, BBGP’s Competition Director welcomed the audience and thanked them for their interest. He then introduced the members of the jury, and the finals began at a sell-out performance held at the National Dance Theatre. The event was streamed on bbgp.eu and mte.eu. It is worth mentioning here that hundreds of people followed the final on the university and the competition website, and the afternoon symposium was also streamed.

Photo by Andrea P. Merlo (Day 2)

Seven Hungarian ballet dancers of the talented students of the Hungarian Dance University made it to the finals. Japan was represented by eleven talented students in the finals, making Japan the most successful country.

17 competitors including pairs took part in the junior category, 5 in the duets’ and 13 in the senior category. The BBGP 2024 finals were closed by the finalists in the senior category, where the Japanese dominance was matched by Hungarian, South Korean, French, Spanish and Serbian competitors.

After 8 pm, the jury met and made its decision under the chairmanship of Gyula Harangozó. The results were then announced in the hall of the National Dance Theatre. The top three winners in each category can be found here, but Friday evening’s Gala will also reveal the winners of the numerous and valuable special prizes, donations from sponsors and national organisations.