NEW YORK, NY(SMI-GLOBAL-ARTS-ENTERTAINMENT-APRIL 08-17, 2025)-The Valentina Kozlova Int'l Ballet competition known for its well acclaimed ballet educational programs & generous scholarship awards to winners of its annual Ballet competition concluded its 2025-edition in grandiose style, announcing the winners of the classical and contemporary competitions on its final gala last Saturday's evening at John Jay College Theater in NYC.

 

Hundred plus Ballet dancers(Female & Male) representing over 10+ countries from around the world: Brazil, Canada, South-Korea, China, Panama, Italy, Germany, Paraguay, Armenia, & USA. 

The VKIBC founded by the former ballerina from Russia Valentina Kozlova, it's known for attracting aspiring ballet dancers from around the world, and selected qualified contestants are invited to compete for medals, scholarships, contracts and prizes annually in front of classical and contemporary expert ballet jurors.

In addition to the ballet divisions and dancers, the competition brings a line-up of reputable judges with extensive expertise in the field of ballet and score the contestants based on their talent and abilities, and not persuaded on school status, teacher or coach.

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2025 Classical/Contemporary Jurors/Judges:

-Nina Ananiashvili(Georgia), President of Ballet of Georgia.

-Joan Boada (USA), Artistic Director. Associate Director Boston Ballet

-Nicole Duffy (Puerto Rico),Rehearsal Director Ballet Hispanico

-Diane Hakak (USA), Founder & Director of New Elite Ballet

-Chan Hon Goh(Canada),Director Goh Ballet Academy & Former Principal Dancer National Ballet of Canada.

-Virginia Johnson (USA),Artistic Dir Emerita/Dance Theater of Harlem.

-Era Jouravlev (USA) Program Director " Joffrey Ballet School

-Andrei Jouravlev (USA) Dance Theacher of Joffrey Ballet School

-Hee Sun Kim (South Korea) Dean of School of Dance, Korea University of Arts.

-Graham Lustig (USA) Artistic Director Oakland Ballet

-Steven Melendez (USA) Artistic Director NY Theater Ballet

-Rio Mitani (Japan)  Artistic Director ABC Tokyo Ballet Co & ABS Tokyo.

-Melanie Person (USA) Co-Director, The Ailey School

-Margo Sappington (USA) International Choreaggrapher & Director

-Ricardo Scheir (Brazil/Italy) Artistic Director PAVILHAO D

-Sergei Soloviev (France) Former Bolshoi Principal Dancer & International Teacher

-Eduardo Vilaro (Cuban-American/USA) Artistic Director & CEO Of Ballet Hispanico

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Article & Photos By Marcello Cutti II/Women Starlight/Starlight Illustrated

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2025 Contemporary Competition Medal Winners:

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Bronce Medals:

Division I Solo (Dancers 11-14)

Camila Amaral Erse   Brazil 

Manuela Catharino    Brazil

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Division II Solo (Dancers, 15-17)

Hyunwon Yang    South Korea

Samyra Abbas      Brazil

Olivia Peressin     Brazil

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Division III Solo (Dancers 18 + Up)

Female:

Jinsu Park       South Korea

Chiara Smith   USA

Sumin Lee       South Korea

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Male:

Gyeol Heo      South Korea

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SILVER MEDAL WINNERS:

Division I Solo

Male: Leo Patel   USA

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Division II Solo

Female: Minji Kim   South Korea

 

Division III Solo​​

Female: Sofia Santos Souza, Brazil

Male: Seonwoo Eom , South Korea​

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Contemporary Duet: E SE FOI 

Winners: Sofia Santos Souza(Brazil) & Lucas Martinelli (Brazil)

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Contemporary Ensemble Winners:

Children of the Earth      Brazil

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GOLD MEDAL WINNERS:

Division I Solo

Seo Young Baek,  South Korea

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Division II Solo

Hagyeom Kim,    South Korea

Juha Ryu,             South Korea​​​

 

Division III Solo:

Female: Sohyun Kim         South Korea

MALE:    Jo Jeongik            South Korea​

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Contemporary Ensemble Winner:

Atemporal,   Brazil 

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Special Prize by Valentina Kozlova

Maya Dolecki: Contemporary Recognition in Classical Competition

Kira Fox: Private Class with Valentina Kozlova

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