# Prix Benois de la Danse

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
### Composers

* George Kouroupos (1996) Greece
* Michel Legrand (2012) France
* Joby Talbot (2015) United Kingdom
* Ilya Demutsky (2018) Russia

### Designers

* Olivier Debré (1998) France
* Jaffar Chalabi (2000) Austria
* Jurgen Rose (2002) Germany
* Carlos Gallardo (2007) Argentina
* John Macfarlane (2015) United States
* Ren Dongsheng (2016) People's Republic of China
* Kirill Serebrennikov (2018) Russia

### Prix "Benois-Moscow Massine-Positano"

* Ana Laguna (2015) Sweden
* Edward Watson (2015) United Kingdom
* Ekaterina Krysanova (2016) Russia
* Maria Kochetkova (2018) United States

### For High Artistry in Partnership

* Alexandre Riabko (2016) Germany

### Lifetime achievement

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

### Ballerinas

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

### Danseurs

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

### Choreographers

| Name (Nationality) | Year | Country | Company | Training |
| John Neumeier | 1992 | Germany | Hamburg Ballet | Vera Volkova, Royal Ballet School |
| Jiří Kylián | 1993 | Netherlands | Nederlands Dans Theatre | Prague Dance Conservatory, Royal Ballet School |
| Roland Petit | 1994 | France | from Ballet National de Marseille (for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden) | Paris Opera Ballet School |
| Angelin Preljocaj | 1995 | France | from Ballet Preljocaj (for the Paris Opera Ballet) | Schola Cantorum |
| Valentin Elizariev | 1996 | Belarus | National Academic Bolshoi Ballet of Belarus | Vaganova Leningrad Academic Choreographic School |
| Carolyn Carlson | 1998 | France | from Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson (for the Paris Opera Ballet) | San Francisco Ballet School |
| Davide Bombana | 1998 | Italy | from Maggio Danza Company (for Bayerisches Staatsballett) | La Scala Theatre Ballet School |
| Jiří Kylián | 1999 | Netherlands | Nederlands Dans Theatre | Prague Dance Conservatory, Royal Ballet School |
| Nacho Duato | 2000 | Spain | Spanish National Dance Company | Rambert School, Maurice Béjart’s Mudra School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater |
| David Dawson | 2003 | United Kingdom | Dutch National Ballet | Royal Ballet School |
| Édouard Lock | 2003 | Canada | from La La La Human Steps (for the Paris Opera Ballet) | |
| Paul Lightfoot & Sol León | 2004 | Netherlands | Nederlands Dans Theatre | |
| Alexei Ratmansky | 2005 | Russia | from Bolshoi Ballet (for the Royal Danish Ballet) | Bolshoi Ballet Academy |
| Boris Eifman | 2006 | Russia | from Boris Eifman Ballet (for the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre) | Saint Petersburg Conservatory |
| Martin Schläpfer | 2007 | Germany | Ballet Mainz | Royal Ballet School |
| Jean-Christophe Maillot | 2008 | Monaco | Ballets de Monte-Carlo | École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower |
| Wayne McGregor | 2009 | United Kingdom | Royal Ballet | José Limón School |
| José Martínez | 2009 | France | Paris Opera Ballet | École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower and Paris Opera Ballet School |
| Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet | 2011 | Belgium | Eastman Company | Performing Arts Research and Training Studios and Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle |
| Jorma Elo | 2011 | United States | from Boston Ballet (for Vienna State Opera Ballet and Stanislavsky Ballet Company) | Finnish National Ballet School, Vaganova Academy |
| Lar Lubovitch | 2012 | United States | Lar Lubovitch Dance Company | Juilliard School |
| Hans van Manen | 2013 | Netherlands | Dutch National Ballet | Sonia Gaskell, Françoise Adret |
| Christopher Wheeldon | 2013 | United Kingdom | Royal Ballet | Royal Ballet School |
| Alexei Ratmansky | 2014 | United States | American Ballet Theatre | Bolshoi Ballet Academy |
| Christopher Wheeldon | 2015 | United Kingdom | Royal Ballet | Royal Ballet School |
| Inger Johan | 2016 | Germany | Nederlands Dans Theater | Royal Swedish Ballet School & National Ballet School of Canada |
| Yuri Possokhov | 2016 | Russia | Bolshoi Ballet | Bolshoi Ballet Academy |
| Crystal Pite | 2017 | Canada | from Kidd Pivot (for the Paris Opera Ballet) | The School of Toronto Dance Theatre |
| Deborah Colker | 2018 | Brazil | Deborah Colker Company | |
| Yuri Possokhov | 2018 | Russia | Bolshoi Ballet | Bolshoi Ballet Academy |

## By categories

| Number | Country |
| 23 | France |
| 21 | Russia |
| 16 | Germany |
| 11 | United States |
| 9 | United Kingdom |
| 6 | Netherlands |
| 2 | Argentina China Cuba Italy Monaco Spain South Korea Mexico Brazil |
| 1 | Uruguay Australia Austria Belarus Belgium Canada Denmark Greece Israel Sweden |
| Number | Country | Laureate's company |
| 16 | France | Paris Opera Ballet |
| 10 | Russia | Bolshoi Ballet |
| 8 | Russia | Mariinsky Ballet |
| 7 | Germany | Hamburg Ballet |
| 7 | United Kingdom | Royal ballet |
| 5 | United States | American Ballet Theatre |
| 4 | Netherlands | Dutch National Ballet |
| 3 | Netherlands | Nederlands Dans Theatre |
| 3 | Germany | Stuttgart Ballet |
| 2 | Cuba | National Ballet of Cuba |
| 2 | France | Ballet National de Marseille |
| 2 | Monaco | Ballets de Monte Carlo |
| Number | Country | Main training school |
| 20 | France | Paris Opera Ballet School |
| 12 | Russia | Bolshoi Ballet Academy |
| 9 | Russia | Vaganova Academy |
| 5 | United Kingdom | Royal Ballet School |
| 4 | Spain | Víctor Ullate School of Danse |
| 3 | Ukraine | Kyiv State Ballet School |
| 2 | Italy | La Scala Theatre Ballet School |
| 2 | United States | School of American Ballet |
| 2 | France | École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower |
| 2 | Germany | Hamburg Ballet School |

### Footnotes

* ↑ Prix Benois de la Danse, Laureates
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 repeat prize winner
* ↑ to be verified since he was ballet master of the Bolshoi Ballet from 2004 to 2009
* ↑ annual curriculum only