State Secretary for Culture Péter Hoppál emphasized at Thursday’s Budapest press conference presenting the new competition: the initiative to organize a new international ballet competition in Budapest should also be supported by the cultural administration. Although ballet and dance are international genres that know no borders, the past century has shown that it has a specific Hungarian “face”. Building on this legacy, it was time to create such a competition, he noted.

He emphasized that everything is working together to ensure that the international competition is not only a professional dance event, but also an event that confirms and promotes the integrity of Hungarian culture. As he pointed out, unimaginable dedication and hard work lead to artists making it to a major competition. On stage, we can see the harmonious expression of movement art, which was part of European culture hundreds of years ago. As he said, the fact that the university organizes the competition in cooperation with the National Dance Theater and Müpa enhances the event. The event is doomed to success, he said.

Márta Fodorné Molnár, rector of MTE and co-chairman of the organizing committee, highlighted that the university has set itself the goal of becoming a major center for dance training in Europe by 2030. To get on the map of the dance world, you can make a big appearance in a self-organised competition. He said: their goal, in addition to strengthening the reputation of the university, is to represent the values ​​of Hungarian culture and Hungarian dance art to the world on a wider scale. This is how the plan was born to organize an annual, innovative and popular international ballet competition, creating a meeting point for representatives of the art of dance.

The rector of the university told MTI that internationally recognized dance artists, choreographers and ensemble leaders will be invited to the jury of the competition. The president of the jury is Manuel Legris, étoile of the ballet company of the Paris Opera, former director of the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera and La Scala in Milan. As he said, the event’s competition and insight into international dance life can mean scholarships and career opportunities for young dancers, for the most outstanding ones. Members of the 15-24 age group can apply for the competition. Competitors from professional schools and ensembles can enter in three age groups – 15-17, 17-19, 19-24 years old – in the categories of classical ballet and modern dance, solo and pas de deux. He said: the main prize of the competition is 1,000 euros, the second place prize is 7,000 euros, the third place prize is 4,000 euros, and the rest will also receive special prizes, scholarships and audience prizes.

The semi-finals of the competition with the slogan “The art of timelessness” will be hosted by the theater of the Hungarian Academy of Dance, the final by the National Dance Theatre, and the prize-giving gala by the Müpa. The ballet competition is chaired by Márta Fodorné Molnár, co-chaired by János Kiss, president of the Foundation for the Hungarian Dance Academy. The event, where Márta Molnár and János Kiss signed the founding document of the competition, was attended by Ferenc Liszt Prize-winning conductor György Vashegyi, the president of MMA, Csaba Káel, the general director of Müpa, Péter Ertl, the director of the National Dance Theater and the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Hungarian Academy of Dance several members, including János Kiss, Yvette Bozsik and dancer Jolán Török.