Our Founder
Valentina Kozlova was born in Moscow. Selected first among 30,000 applicants Ms. Kozlova was trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School. Ms. Kozlova joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1973; she was promoted to Principal dancer in 1975 and danced all leading roles in the company repertoire.
In 1979, while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Los Angeles, Ms. Kozlova defected. Thereafter Ms. Kozlova pursued a career as a guest artist and also performed with the Australian Ballet.
While a Principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, Ms. Kozlova danced leading roles in Serge Lifar's Suite en Blanc, Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, Glen Tetley's The Rite of Spring, the title role in Roland Petit's Carmen, the title role in Andre Prokovsky's Anna Karenina, the Queen in Prokovsky's The Three Musketeers, and Juliet in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet. She also co-staged a production of The Nutcracker for the Australian Ballet.
History
Now in its 14th year, The Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition (VKIBC) was born from a desire to give young dancers a platform to compete in a fair, nonpolitical forum. VKIBC has quickly gained an international reputation for its fair scoring. Judges' scores are based exclusively on the abilities of the dancer and are not influenced by status of school, coach, or teacher. Dancers ranging in ages from 9 in the Youth Division to professionals up to the age of 26 in the Senior Division assemble for several days of competition. Dancers are scored meticulously by an esteemed panel of judges, all extremely qualified and reputable in their fields of expertise.
Valentina Kozlova has vast experience as a competitor, renowned coach, and international judge. She understands the conflicts and demands that face both judge and dancer. Because of this, VKIBC strives to insure that every competitor is scored fairly on technique, artistic interpretation, and musicality. During the week of competition in New York City, participants are offered chances to take master classes and to audition for scholarships.
On average, dancers from over 25 countries enter every year. Participation at VIKBC helps these young competitors in a myriad of ways, from learning more about how various classical variations are performed to winning a scholarship or contract, to gaining more exposure, or simply seeing how they compare to their peers. Competitors are able to achieve these and many other goals during this week of professional, supportive, and exciting competition.
The 2025 competition will take place at New York Live Arts for the rounds (7, 8, 9 and 10 April) and the audition class (12 April). The Gala will be held at The Kaye Playhouse on 11 April. To date, VKIBC has generated company contracts, scholarships, prizes and medals for hundreds of young dancers, worldwide.
