The 6th Shanghai International Ballet Competition drew to a successful close

SHANGHAI, Aug. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On the evening of 11th August, the 6th Shanghai International Ballet Competition (SIBC) wrapped up. Over the past nine days, contestants, jury members and guests from around the world came together in Shanghai, presenting brilliant performances in the competition in the meantime of exploring the future of Chinese ballet.

Opened for registration in February, the 6th SIBC received applications from 124 dancers worldwide this year. After the preliminary contest, 73 competitors from 16 countries including China, the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Ukraine, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Germany, Poland, Australia, Austria and Portugal eventually arrived in Shanghai for the later rounds. They were divided into Junior Division for dancers aged 15-18 and Senior Division for those aged 19-26. Participants entered quarterfinal, semi-final and final with solos, duos or optional contemporary dance. Many participants are rising ballet stars who have already won prizes from top international competitions such as the USA International Ballet Competition, Varna International Ballet Competition, South African International Ballet Competition, Japan International Ballet competition, South Korea International Ballet competition, Mongolia International Ballet Competition and International Dance Festival Tanzolymp.

Six days of exciting competition witnessed fruitful harvest of these future ballet stars on this stage. As for the Senior Division, the winners of the gold medals for males and females were Chinese Dancers Shi Yue and Ao Dingwen. The silver prize for women went to Zeisel Prisca from Austria and males to Wang Zhanfeng and Chang Sinuo from China. Mongolian dancer Otgontugs Anujin and Chinese dancer Zhu Qian were awarded the third prize for females. Wang Jiayue and Kou Zuquan, both from China, took the bronze medals for males. In terms of Junior Division, Chinese girl Li Siyi took the crown of the female group. Zhang Yikun, also from China, won the silver prize for females while Chinese dancers Li Hang and Wu Yue claimed the silver prize of the male group. Guo Wenjin (China), Seo Hyeseung (South Korea) and Park Yujin (South Korea) won bronze medals for females while the bronze medal for males was awarded to Chinese contestants Yan Qingchen and Zhang Xuhao. Choreography Award went to four choreographers including Liu Tingting, the choreographer of Bleeding Love, Fei Bo, the choreographer of Tomb Figure, Wang Yuanyuan, the choreographer of Beyond the Smoke and Wu Husheng, the choreographer of Adieu. Australian dancer Aaron Smyth took Special Jury Award for Best Performer with his impressive performance. Ribeiro Brandao Diana from Portugal and Han Zeyuan from China were the winners of Contemporary Performer Award. South African ballerina McElligott Paige, along with Chinese dancers Luo Jingfei, Huang Shaoshuai and Sun Pengxiang were granted with Encouragement Award. Yuan Anpu from China took Partner Award in the competition.