Tag Archive: Mthuthuzeli November

Prix Benois Laureates 2025

Prix Benois de la Danse
Bolshoi Theatre (Historic Stage)
Moscow, Russia
June 17, 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Y.Grigorovich, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.AnnadurdyevYesterday evening, the Prix Benois laureates were announced on the Bolshoi Theatre’s historic stage for the 33rd time.

Mthuthuzeli November won the prize for best choreography in absentia for Chapter Two, a creation for Cape Ballet Africa in South Africa. The Mariinsky Ballet’s Renata Shakirova won the best female dancer prize for her performance as Swanilda in Alexander Sergeev’s new Coppélia. Like last year, the prize for the best male dancer was awarded twice. Joshua Williams received the Prix Benois for his performance in November’s Chapter Two; Dmitry Smilevsky (Bolshoi Ballet) was awarded for his performances as Mercutio in Leonid Lavrovsky’s version of Romeo and Juliet and Prince Désiré in Yuri Grigorovich’s version of The Sleeping Beauty.
4. J.Williams, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev3. D.Smilevsky, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev2. R.Shakirova, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev A video paid tribute to the late Grigorovich without whom the Prix Benois would have never been established. As snapshots of past award presentations scrolled on a huge screen on stage, Grigorovich’s presence could be strongly felt.

The jury consisted of Svetlana Zakharova (artistic director of the Benois de la Danse Program, chairwoman of the jury, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre, and rector of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography), Erlan Andagulov (dancer, founder, and artistic director of the International Dance Festival, “Ballet Globe International Dance Festival,” in Kazakhstan), Jean Guizerix (dancer, teacher, choreographer, and etoilé of the Paris Opera), Lili Xin (ballerina, teacher, 5. S.Zakharova (center), jurors, laureates, and nominees; Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyevchoreographer, and artistic director of the Shanghai Ballet and chairwoman of the Shanghai Dance Association in China), Esther Nasser (dancer, teacher, choreographer, creator, and artistic director of dance and ballet groups in South Africa and chairwoman of the Dance Council of Johannesburg in South Africa), Farukh Ruzimatov (dancer, teacher, choreographer, principal, and assistant artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet in St.Petersburg), and Andrian Fadeyev (dancer, principal of the Mariinsky Ballet, teacher, choreographer, and artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet and the St. Petersburg State Academic Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre).

7. P.Stepin (Frantz) and R.Shakirova (Swanilda), “Coppélia” by A.Sergeev, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev6. D.Smilevsky (Mercutio), “Romeo and Juliet” by L.Lavrovsky, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.AnnadurdyevDuring the second half of the ceremony, the audience had the chance to watch excerpts of the nominated choreographies as well as some of the dancer nominees’ performances. Joshua Williams and Mia Coomber (Cape Ballet Africa) were the first South Africans to perform in Russia, dancing an excerpt of November’s Chapter Two. Sundet Sultanov (Astana Ballet, Kazakhstan) presented a fragment of December Rain by Kristina Paulin. Other members of the Astana Ballet danced an excerpt of Sacred Dances, the piece for which Mukaram Avakhri was nominated.
8. M.Coomber and J.Williams, “Chapter Two” by M.November, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev9. Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.AnnadurdyevArtists from the Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Komi Republic, Russia, presented a fragment of Carmen Suite by Prix Benois nominee, Andrey Merkuriev. Renata Shakirova danced the wedding pas de deux from her role as Swanilda, her Frantz was the Mariinsky’s Philipp Stepin; Angelina Vorontsova danced as Esmeralda from Notre-Dame de Paris alongside Nikita Chetverikov’s Frollo; Viktoria Dankovtseva took to the stage as Odile; Alexei Putintsev danced as Ferdinand from The Tempest; Dmitry Smilevsky flew across the stage as Mercutio

The Prix Benois program will conclude with a gala concert tonight.
10. Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025 © B.Annadurdyev

Links: Website of the Prix Benois Center
Website of the Bolshoi Theatre
Photos: 1. Yuri Grigorovich, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
2. Renata Shakirova, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
3. Dmitry Smilevsky, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
4. Joshua Williams, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
5. Svetlana Zakharova (center), jurors, laureates, and nominees; Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
6. Dmitry Smilevsky (Mercutio), “Romeo and Juliet” by Leonid Lavrovsky, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
7. Philipp Stepin (Frantz) and Renata Shakirova (Swanilda), “Coppélia” by Alexander Sergeev, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
8. Mia Coomber and Joshua Williams, “Chapter Two” by Mthuthuzeli November, Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
9. Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
10. Prix Benois Award Ceremony, Bolshoi Theatre 2025
all photos © Batyr Annadurdyev
Editing: Kayla Kauffman

 

Choreographer Nominees for the Prix Benois 2025

Prix Benois de la Danse
Mukaram Avakhri, Wang Ge, Thomas Lebrun, Andrey Merkuriev, Mthuthuzeli November, Alexander Sergeev
Bolshoi Theatre (Historic Stage)

Moscow, Russia
June 2025

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Bolshoi Theatre © Bolshoi Theatre/D.Yusupov2. Statuette of the Prix Benois de la Danse, design by I.Ustinov © Benois Center On June 17th, the Bolshoi Theatre’s Historic Stage will host the annual Prix Benois charity gala and awards ceremony. Traditionally, laureates of previous years have performed in a gala concert on the following evening. Prizes will be awarded for the best choreographer, female dancer, and male dancer. This year’s festival will pay tribute to Yuri Grigorovich, who passed away on May 19th. Grigorovich founded the Prix Benois competition in 1991 and served as chairman of the jury, artistic director, and president.
Below is an overview of the six nominated choreographers. A report of the dancer nominees will follow. (more…)

Spoiled

“Timekeepers” (“For Hedy”/”Rhapsodies”/”Les Noces”)
Ballet Zurich
Opernhaus Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland
January 20, 2024

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

1. S.Williams, “For Hedy” by M.Tankard, Ballet Zurich 2024 © G.BatardonThe Ballet Zurich’s new triple bill Timekeepers is a testament to a wind of change that has swept through the company since Cathy Marston took the reins as artistic director last August. Twenty new faces joined the company, and many others left to follow the previous artistic director, Christian Spuck, to the State Ballet Berlin. I was told that, despite initial hesitation, the Ballet attracts large audiences to its performances. The premiere of Timekeepers was indeed very well attended. Its program combined two world premieres – Meryl Tankard’s For Hedy and Mthuthuzeli November’s Rhapsodies – with Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces (1923). Each of the three pieces comprises music that premiered almost exactly one-hundred years ago.

The Australian Tankard took on the challenge to choreograph George Antheil’s composition Ballet Mécanique, a medley of noises made by mechanical instruments, such as electric bells, propellers, a siren, and sixteen self-playing pianos (or pianolas). It couldn’t be realized in 1926, as synchronizing so many pianolas turned out to be impossible back then. (more…)