Competition in Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Folk Dance, and Choreography Categories
The 21st Seoul International Dance Competition will be held from the opening ceremony on the 4th through the finals and related events until the 18th at the Mapo Art Center Art Hall Mac in Seoul. The Seoul International Dance Competition is hosted by the Seoul International Cultural Exchange Association and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Arts Council, and the International Dance Council.
Established in 2004, the Seoul International Dance Competition is Asia's largest comprehensive dance competition featuring ballet, contemporary dance, ethnic dance, and choreography categories. Over the past 20 years, it has produced numerous domestic and international dance stars such as Simon Chudin (1st competition, principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet), Lee Sang-eun (2nd competition, Semperoper Ballet in Germany), Kim Ki-min (5th competition, principal dancer of the Mariinsky Theatre), Ahn Nam-geun (5th competition, National Contemporary Dance Company), Brooklyn Mack (8th competition, Washington Ballet), and Park Ye-ji (10th competition, Spanish National Ballet).
The preliminary rounds of this competition, with 980 dancers from home and abroad participating, were held from May 16 to 17 and from May 28 to June 2.
The finals and related events will proceed in the following order: opening declaration on July 4, the World Ethnic Dance Festival, ethnic dance finals from July 5 to 7, contemporary dance and choreography finals from July 9 to 11, ballet finals on July 13, 14, and 16, and the closing ceremony and awards ceremony on July 17.
The grand prize winner of this competition will receive the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award and a cash prize of $10,000, while the first-place winners in the senior category of each division will receive $3,000, with a total prize pool of $64,800. Additionally, the first-place male winners in the senior categories of ballet and contemporary dance will be granted special privileges to be enlisted as artistic personnel, and ethnic dance awardees will be offered overseas scholarships. This year, special awards in the ethnic dance category have been newly established for Kang Seon-yeong and Song Beom-sang, each receiving a prize of 2 million won.
Besides the competition, a variety of events commemorating the 20th anniversary will be held. On the 4th at the Mapo Art Center, following the opening ceremony, the 'Ethnic Dance Festival' will take place starting at 7 p.m. On the 12th, the Contemporary Dance and Choreography Festival will be held, and on the 18th, the day after the awards ceremony, a World Gala performance is scheduled.
A junior gala performance featuring emerging dancers from the Seoul International Dance Competition alumni has also been newly introduced this year. To expand the dance base, it will be held once each in Gwangju and Daegu.
For more detailed information about the 21st Seoul International Dance Competition, please visit the Seoul International Dance Competition website.
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