Mária Aradi
President of the Jury
Mária Aradi graduated from the State Ballet Institute of Hungary in 1961. She became a member of the Hungarian Opera House, and soon after became a principal dancer of the National Ballet Company. From the Opera house, she was contracted to the Netherlands, where she was the leading soloist and later, ballet master of the Dutch National Ballet until her return to Hungary.
A classical ballerina with outstanding technique, who could also interpret modern ballets authentically and with a strong presence. In 1966, she was the bronze medalist of the Varna Ballet Competition, and in 1969, she received the special prize of the Moscow Ballet Competition. Today, she still works tirelessly as a teaching ballet master of the Hungarian National Ballet and as an invited guest instructor of the Hungarian Dance University.
She was also recognised with the Hungarian Order of Merit Middle Cross (2015), Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit (2006), and the EuroPass Award (2002).
A classical ballerina with outstanding technique, who could also interpret modern ballets authentically and with a strong presence. In 1966, she was the bronze medalist of the Varna Ballet Competition, and in 1969, she received the special prize of the Moscow Ballet Competition. Today, she still works tirelessly as a teaching ballet master of the Hungarian National Ballet and as an invited guest instructor of the Hungarian Dance University.
She was also recognised with the Hungarian Order of Merit Middle Cross (2015), Hungarian Golden Cross of Merit (2006), and the EuroPass Award (2002).
Megan Fairchild
Ms. Fairchild is celebrated for her technical brilliance and magnetic stage presence and has built a distinguished career spanning classical and contemporary ballet, Broadway, teaching, and writing. She studied at School of American Ballet, the official school of NYCB and joined the company in 2001, where she was promoted to soloist in 2004, and became a principal dancer in 2005.Her extensive repertoire includes leading roles in full-length classics such as Swan Lake, Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, and La Sylphide, as well as ballets by legendary choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and Alexei Ratmansky. She was featured as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the 2011 telecast of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, streamed in movie theaters worldwide. She earned Theatre World Award and a nomination from the Outer Critics Circle for her outstanding performance. In addition to her performance career, Ms. Fairchild is a member of the faculty at the School of American Ballet and holds an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. In 2021, she released her first book, The Ballerina Mindset (Penguin), which became a major success in the U.S., offering empowering advice on mental wellness and the pursuit of excellence—both on stage and beyond.
Mário Radačovský
Mário Radačovský, Artistic Director of The Ballet of the National Theatre Brno and choreographer for many ballet companies worldwide including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, Jeune Ballet du Quebec, Canada , Grand Rapids Ballet, USA, Diablo Ballet in San Francisco, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Slovak National Theatre, Latvian National Ballet in Riga, Ballet Bratislava and Prague Chamber Ballet.
Mário joined the Slovak National Theatre Ballet in 1989, and became a soloist in a very short time. He went on to The Ballet of the National Theatre Brno as a soloist and soon he received an offer to dance in Jiří Kylián’s Netherlands Dance Theatre in The Hague.
Working at the NDT, he met some of the most important choreographers of his time, including Jiří Kylián, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, William Forsythe, Édou-ard Lock and many others. In 1999 he became the first soloist of the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, then returned to the Slovak National Theatre Ballet in 2000 as a guest soloist and later as artistic director between 2006–2010. He founded the ensemble Ballet Bratislava, which he led until its dissolution (2011–2013). Since then, he has been the artistic director of The Ballet of the National Theatre Brno.
It is an honor to welcome him among our BBGP 2025 Jury.
TBD
TBD
TBD
