Soviet dancers take the prize in ballet

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 31

Soviet dancers take the prize in ballet

NZPA-Reuter Moscow Soviet dancers swept most of the prizes in this year’s Moscow international ballet competition, but several outsiders won the hearts of the audience. Critics and dance-lovers packed the plush red and gold Bolshoi theatre, home of classical Russian ballet, for the final rounds of the contest Nina Ananiyashvili, a soloist with the Bolshoi Company, and Marina Leonkina, an experienced dancer from Voronezh, shared the gold medal of 2500 rouble ($6390) first prize in the category for women dancers in duets. In the male category the dashing Argentine Julio Bocca ran away with the first prize after a perform-

ance the critics unanimously agreed could hardly be matched. Second prize for men was shared by the Russian dancer, Andris Liepa, son of the well known dancer, Maris Liepa, and a Frenchman, Pablo Savoye, who wore a kilt for an exhuberant pas de deux from “Les Syfphides.” The second prize for women was shared by the temperamental Soviet ballerina, Galina Stepaneko, aged 19, and Japan’s Yoko Morimoto, who with her partner, Nabaru Miyagi, charmed the crowd. Strikingly dressed in red and black for their pas de deux from “Don Quixote,” they combined grace, poise, elegance, and skill with humour and sheer joy. Spectators interrupted their performance with cries of

bravo and spontaneous applause. Two other Soviet dancers took the third prize for women, while Australia’s David McAllister, who during rehearsals had said it was a shock to have got through to the final round won third place for men. His partner, Elizabeth Toohey, won a prize for artistic merit, and the two also won a special place in the hearts of the audience — McAllister for his effortless jumping and spinning around the stage, and Toohey for her delicacy and gracefulness. The three-week event had 100 competitors from more than 20 countries taking part and was open to dancers aged 17 to 25 who had never before won an international ballet competition.