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1st Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix to be held in Capital of Culture Veszprém – UPDATED
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The Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix, one of the most important international cultural events of the year to be held in the summer of 2023 as announced on Wednesday at the Hungarian State Opera House. The event will debut next year as part of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme and be hosted by ActiCity. The event is organised by the Hungarian National Ballet Institute and the Hungarian State Opera Foundation for Ballet Students, under the patronage of the Hungarian State Opera.
The Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix international ballet competition for children and youth will be held for the first time in Hungary from 26 June to 1 July 2023 at Acticity in Veszprém. The event is part of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture programme and is organised by the Hungarian National Ballet Institute and the Hungarian State Opera Foundation for Ballet Students with the professional support of the Hungarian State Opera.
The long-term goal of the Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix is to nurture talent and to promote ballet education and the art of ballet in Hungary. Competitors will compete in professional and amateur categories, in classical and modern ballet, and the high quality of the competition will be ensured by a jury of 8 internationally renowned dance artists, masters and dedicated supporters, in addition to the partners.
“I met Director Solymosi in 2017 and have been following his vision ever since. The Ballet Grand Prix has been a priority of his directorial bid for a decade, which we began redesigning in the winter of 2021. Next year, Europe will be looking to Veszprém, and we will fill the city with ballet,” said Annamária Steiner-Isky, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian State Opera’s Foundation for Ballet Students and initiator of the Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix concept.
“Creating an international ballet competition has been a dream of mine for more than 10 years, so it has been in all my applications for ballet director. I am very grateful that within the framework of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 ECoC programme we finally have the opportunity to organise the first Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix. A competition like this is important not only for the education of young talents and professional encounters, but also for the international recognition of a country’s cultural life”, said Tamás Solymosi, Director of the Hungarian National Ballet and Ballet Institute, at the press conference.
“Both the Hungarian National Ballet Institute and the Opera House Children’s Choir ensure the high quality artistic development of more than 200 children. In the future, we would like to pay even more attention to the training of our future ballet dancers and choir singers, which is why I consider it very important to support the Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix now being launched. We are also planning to create our own eight-year school, the Opera Campus, to meet special needs of children studying in our institutions – another great need to support future talents,” said Szilveszter Ókovács, Director General of the Hungarian State Opera.
