Dirk Badenhorst, CEO of the South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) has been bestowed the honour of being invited to serve as a judge in the adjudication panels of two major international ballet competitions to be held in June and August of this year.
He will serve as a judge at the VI International Yury Grigorovich Competition held from June 19-26, 2016 in the resort town of Sochi, on the stage of the Winter Theatre and at the 5th Shanghai International Ballet Competition that will be held at Shanghai Grand Theatre from 3rd August to 11th August 2016.
This will be the first time that a South African will serve as a judge at these competitions. The fact that the Shanghai competition in their official website mentions that “the jury panel will consist of internationally recognized personalities of the dance world” underscores that stature that Dirk Badenhorst has gained over the years that he has been engaged in ballet diplomacy.
Badenhorst has over the past 20 years lived out his passion for outreach and development and established several initiatives and has gained respect locally and internationally for his efforts to expose South African teachers and dancers to the latest international teaching techniques, teachers and dancers. He has been a pioneer in building international bridges and officially established a Cultural Interchange with dance institutions in Cuba with the support of the Cuban Ministry of Culture and the South African Departments of Arts and Culture and International Cooperation as the Cuban training method is an exceptional model for ballet training in this country with its multi-cultural society being so similar to that of Cuba.
Through his ballet networking and diplomacy he was invited to be a guest the Shanghai International Ballet Competition that took place in 2007. This sowed the seed with him that led to the birth of the SAIBC which takes place bi-annually and is the only international ballet competition on the African continent. He got the courage to start the SAIBC from the encouragement of international ballet role-players he liaised with at the Shanghai competition and the first SAIBC took place in January 2008 with the 5th SAIBC having recently taken place in February 2016 to great acclaim from the competitors and international ballet luminaries that have attended it.
For him returning to Shanghai to serve on the judges panel in his capacity as CEO of the SAIBC completes the full circle that has started in 2007. Since the inaugural SAIBC in 2008 the name lists of the judges who served on the judges panels of subsequent competitions literally read like a “who’s who” of ballet with top international judges making themselves available for the competitions as a result of his dedicated networking and ballet diplomacy that also confirms the standing that this competition has established internationally.
Says Badenhorst about ballet diplomacy: “I have always believed in the value of ballet diplomacy as ballet has played a big role in the development of countries such as Cuba, Brazil, Russia, China and the USA. In the past the SAIBC has worked with many competitors
and teachers from these countries as the art of ballet has forged a language that crosses
boundaries and has brought these countries together on stage. Many laudable programs emanated from the competition such as the Training Teachers in the Townships program which was launched on 17 May 2016 and has drawn considerable interest from the international media and is not only a vehicle for empowering our young dancers but also of nation building.”
Ballet diplomacy is central to the vision of the SAIBC as it is about using ballet and dance to bring people together in a society where there has historically been conflicting perceptions of ballet, and also to go beyond our borders to achieve cultural and social partnerships with other countries.
International ballet competitions like the SAIBC and the two competitions where he will now serve as judge is a haven of knowledge where training techniques is shared among teachers and dancers. Competitors and their teachers benefit from the knowledge of the panels of judges representing some of the biggest companies and schools in the world with most of them former ballet stars themselves.
Both the VI International Yury Grigorovich Competition and 5th Shanghai International Ballet Competition, which are supported by the Russian and the People’s Republic of China’s Ministries of Culture, share his vision of international cooperation among the international dancing fraternity. The Russian competition stated that they wish to establish creative and friendly relations among the young people of different countries of the world, to exchange the professional experience, to make popular the art of the classical dance among the general public and subsequent development in the art of ballet. Shanghai competition organizers stated that it is aiming to strengthen the communication and collaboration in the world of ballet and promote further development of ballet in China
During his visit to Russia he will also be visiting the world famous Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg where he will be strengthening ties and look at cooperation between this Academy and the SAIBC for exchange programs with teachers and dancers.
The history of this esteemed academy goes back to May 4th, 1738 when by Imperial Decree of Empress Anna, the first Russian School of Theatrical Dance was founded which developed into the Vaganova Ballet Academy. The school produced a generation of dancers whose names are synonymous with the glory of Russian ballet: Anna Pavlova, and Vaslav Nijinsky, Mikhail Fokine, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov to mention a few.
Today the Academy has 340 students, and competition for a place at the School is fierce with thousands of children applying for auditions. Such is the standing of this academy that royalty make a point of visiting the Academy when they visit St. Petersburg. Among them are: Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II, Princess Margaret and Prince Michael, Queen Beatrix of Netherlands, Sweden’s Queen Silvia, Grand Duchess Leonida, Prince Golitsin, and Count Vasilchikov.