New York International Ballet Competition
212 956 1520
nyibc@nyibc.org
Directors & Staff
BackIlona Copen (1940-2010)
Founder/Executive Director Emerita (1983-2009)
Ilona Copen, founder and Executive Director of New York International Ballet Competition, Inc., was the U.S. Representative and President of the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute - UNESCO. Ms. Copen was a founding member of the World Dance Alliance and a member of its board. She served as Director of Dance at the 92nd Street Y, President of Dance Magazine Foundation, and President of the U.S. Chapter of the Conseil International de la Danse. She attended Juilliard and received a B. de Rothschild scholarship for her training at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.
As a dancer, Ms. Copen performed with numerous modern dance companies and taught extensively throughout the United States and Europe. She acted as director, stage manager, production manager, and rehearsal mistress. Ms. Copen currently serves on the board of various dance companies and as a jury member of international ballet and choreographic competitions. She is currently Chairperson of the International Relations Committee of WDA Americas.
Igor Youskevitch (1912-1994)
Artistic Director (1983-1994)
Igor Youskevitch (photo: King Douglas), the first Artistic Director of New York International Ballet Competition, is remembered for his 60-year career as a world-renowned ballet performer and teacher. He has been universally recognized and acclaimed for his monumental contribution to classical dance and to the creation of a dance audience in the United States. Mr. Youskevitch started his performing career in 1934 with Les Ballets de Paris. In 1937, he joined the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo under the direction of Leonid Massine. He became one of the great premier danseurs with the Ballet Russe and subsequently with American Ballet Theatre. Mr. Youskevitch was a cherished partner of such legendary ballerinas as Alicia Markova, Mia Slavenska, Tamara Toumanova, Nathalie Krassovska and Alexandra Danilova. His legendary partnership with Alicia Alonso was one of the most celebrated partnerships in ballet history.
After a brilliant international performing career, Mr. Youskevitch became a teacher, founding the Igor Youskevitch School of Ballet with his wife, Anna Scarpova, in New York City where, for many years he shared his wisdom and technique with new students. During that period, he and his wife also directed their own company, Ballet Romantique. He subsequently began teaching at the University of Texas where a dance scholarship has been established in his honor, and where he was Professor Emeritus. Mr. Youskevitch was a recipient of many awards, including the Dance Magazine Award in 1958, and the Capezio Award in 1990. He was the author of many articles on ballet, a choreographer, master teacher, and most important to us, he was the first Artistic Director of the New York International Ballet Competition. In that capacity he enriched the dance world by teaching and inspiring the New York International Ballet Competition dancers from all over the world, passing on the secrets of his art, acquired over many years.