And, we’re in the home stretch in our series covering ballet competitions! We’ve talked with studio directors, conservatories and judges to hear their thoughts on all things competition related. But, we saved the best for last – competition directors!
We were fortunate enough to speak with directors of the World Ballet Competition, ADC|IBC and Youth America Grand Prix. These three competitions are structured and scored in different ways. But, they all share the same goal – to provide as many opportunities to as many dancers as possible. And, to be clear, opportunities do not mean winning a medal or even placing in the top six or top twelve. Each competition director was empathic that it’s all about scholarships. They’re looking to connect dancers with as many company affiliated schools and main companies as possible. One well-known ballet competition judge even described these competitions to be akin to dating. So, is it really a big matchmaking service? In many cases, yes.
This is where competitions excel. You can see this simply by looking at how many opportunities were presented to dancers at each event.
We’re going to leave the juicy bits for you to listen to on our podcasts, but there were some interesting things we learned from our conversations.
Competition Structure
Each competition operates in a slightly different way. All offer some sort of qualifying round and then a final round. In addition, all live-stream their competitions, providing dancers with a huge amount of worldwide exposure. Master classes also take place at each competition, although they are weighted differently in terms of consideration for medals and awards. Finally, all three offer a “job fair,” in addition to the competition.
But, there are also some key differences, which might make some competitions more appealing than others depending on the type of dancer you have.
World Ballet Competition
World Ballet Competition accepts dancers to finals through a video preselection process. Dancers submit a video of them performing one ballet solo. From these videos, certain students are selected to attend the final round in Florida. Once at finals, dancers perform in multiple rounds, with a smaller number progressing from one round to the next. For the younger dancers, there are two rounds and for older dancers there are three.
Scoring for each performance is done “Olympic style,” with one set of scores given for artistic merit and one given for technical merit. In addition, the adjudicating panel is composed of seven judges. According to Vasile Petrutiu, the Founder of World Ballet, he adopted this scoring method “to ensure transparency and fairness.” To accomplish this, like in Olympic scoring, the top and bottom scores are dropped.
How a dancer ultimately places at finals is based solely on scores given during the on-stage performances.
World Ballet also offers opportunities for students to be matched with partner schools for both summer intensives as well as year round programs. The 2023 scholarships and direct entry to programs can be found here.
World Ballet also runs a job fair where students ages 16-24 may attend in order to get seen by company directors. The great news about this program is that one does not need to compete as a requirement for attending the job fair. This particular job fair is largely an audition class. Company artistic directors may attend in person but the class is also streamed online so directors who cannot attend in person may still observe and recruit talent.
Tune in to our podcast on October 11th to hear about some of the odder things that have happened at WBC over the years as well as what they have in store for 2024, including expansion plans!
ADC|IBC
ADC|IBC operates a competition that combines scores a dancer receives during compulsory classwork, combined with a stage performance. One of the interesting things about ADC|IBC is that the same jury panel observes dancers both in classwork as well as during a dancer’s performance. So, judges get to know students before they set foot on a stage.
In terms of scoring, according to Peter Merz, Regional Tour Director of ADC|IBC, there is no set rubric for how dancers are scored. They are scored on both artistic merit as well as technical merit. But, as we all know, ballet is subjective which means scores are often based on the preferences a particular judge might have.
Like World Ballet Competition, ADC|IBC runs a job fair as part of its finals in St. Petersburg, Florida. The job fair is open to any competitors aged 16 and up. We asked Mr. Merz what types of contracts are typically awarded and he indicated that the job fair has led to trainee and second company offers, as well as main company contracts. A list of offers awarded in 2023 can be found here.
We’ll be publishing our interview with Mr. Merz on October 13th. We spent a lot of time in this interview talking about not only the importance of networking but also the role that social media plays in the ballet world. so be sure to have a listen to hear more about this as well as a host of other issues that often arise in competitions!
Youth America Grand Prix
Ok, now we have the mother of all U.S. based ballet competitions – YAGP. YAGP is huge. They have over 45 regional locations on five continents. The competition operates using a fairly simple structure. Scores at regionals are based on a dancer’s stage performance and only that. The event also holds master classes but it does not factor into whether or not a dancer will place in the top three. That depends on how the dancer performs. Master classes are separate and are taught by current and former professional dancers. Some who teach master classes may also serve as a judge at the same regional.
To make it to finals, one must receive a score of at least 96 on their classical variation (or contemporary for the youngest age group). However, it is not uncommon for students to make it to finals with a score lower than 96 if the artistic staff sees significant potential in that dancer. But those decisions, according to several judges we spoke with, rest with the artistic staff at the event. If you missed our interviews with ballet competition judges, you can check out the episodes with Dierdre Miles-Burger as well as our interview with James Fayette and Jenifer Ringer.
YAGP also holds a job fair. However, it is separate from the regional competitions or finals. This job fair is held in two different locations – Stuttgart, Germany and Nashville, Tennessee. All top three medal winners at a YAGP regional or finals from the prior two years are eligible to attend. In addition, students from what are known as “YAGP partner schools” are also able to attend, but dancers must be recommended by the artistic director of the school. Partner schools are those schools that come to recruit talent at regionals and finals. YAGP lists partner schools on their website.
In addition, any dancer, regardless of school affiliation or having competed at YAGP, is welcome to submit pre-selection materials. But, given the number of dancers who won in previous years at YAGP coupled with dancers from partner schools, the odds of getting selected would not appear to be too high. In terms of contracts awarded, in 2023 most were trainee and second company level. There were some main company contracts offered from the Nashville location, but most came from Stuttgart. You can find the list of contracts from 2023 here.
We also talked to each competition director about some commonly held beliefs about ballet competitions. You can hear our interviews in their entirety starting October 11th, but here are some interesting snippets.
Competition Directors Are In It For The Money. Really?
There is a belief that these competitions, especially YAGP, are rolling in money. In fact, most operate on a shoestring, supported in part, by a stable of loyal volunteers and a large coterie of part-time employees.
We asked all three representatives about the financial status of their organizations and they all but laughed at us. One of the directors whom we interviewed said that no one, and he meant no one, got into this to get rich. In addition, all operate as non-profits and everyone we interviewed emphasized the non in non-profilts! What we learned is that staging a ballet competition is incredibly expensive. Venues must be rented and teachers ands judges must be arranged. Since many master class teachers and judges have to be flown in and put in hotels, this can add up quickly. And, don’t forget about insurance costs. Whenever a venue is rented and children are involved, there are significant insurance costs incurred. Finally, awards for each event need to be bought and printed programs are needed. Put all of that together and there isn’t a lot left over.
Are Competitions Rigged?
In our interviews we also asked each person, “Are competitions rigged?” The answer? No. But they are most definitely political. When we asked what that meant, one director pointed out that everything is political. But, he also said that the term needs to stop being used in a negative connotation. Rather, it’s a term that is often synonymous with networking. He told us that the most important thing a young dancer can do is to use competitions as a way to start building that network. He also told us that he has seen countless instances of a dancer getting an opportunity because their studio director might know “so and so” at that particular competition. Remember what we told you a while back about how small the ballet world is?
With regard to winners, all three competition directors assured us that the standings were not rigged. However, politics did play into which kids might be presented with an opportunity. It’s important to note that one director we spoke with made it clear that he has never seen politics work against a dancer. It usually worked in their favor. We also heard this from competition judges whom we interviewed.
The takeaway here? Your dancer should look at every event they attend as an opportunity to build their network. One of the directors we interviewed said, “The way that performing artists are most successful is by having a wide network of professional contacts.”
A great example is when dancers are looking for their first main company job or are looking to switch from one company to another. Something lot of people may not realize is that dancers in a specific company can invite others to attend company class with them. So, if that dancer has a friend who is looking to land a job there, they can bypass the video screening or the cattle call audition and go right to company class. Of course, the dancer must have the level of training that might lead to a job in that company. But, by going in as a guest of a current company dancer, they just got to take a huge shortcut in the audition process.
Ballet is like any other industry, networking matters.
Things To Listen For In Our Podcast Episodes
In the next several days, we’ll be publishing our interviews with the Founder of WBC, the Regional Tour Director of ADC|IBC and two senior (and founding members) of YAGP.
We asked each of these folks questions that were submitted by our listeners. This included whether or not it made sense to compete at multiple regionals, how much potential factored into results, what they think competitions do really, really well and what they’d like to see change.
We also talked a lot about how competitions fit into overall ballet training, using success at competitions to determine whether or not a dancer will have a career and when too much competing can lead to burnout.
Finally, be sure to tune in to hear a great story about how one dancer ended up at Paris Opera Ballet through total happenstance as well as which event owners were offered (and declined) bribes! Yes, bribes. They happen.
We’ll be launching our interview with WBC on October 11, ADC|IBC will go live October 13 and we’ll round out our competition series with YAGP on October 18th. Just search Ballet Help Desk wherever you get your podcasts or listen on our website.
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