The Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition, featuring top-class dancers and choreographers as judges, will be closed by two performances over Aug 12-13 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The jury panel of the classical ballet competition will include Russian ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina, who performed with the Mariinsky Theater; Italian ballerina Viviana Durante, the former principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre; and Alexandre Riabko, the Ukrainian principal dancer of the Hamburg Ballet.

Nearly 20 international ballet dancers will also perform at the NCPA. They include Semyon Chudin, the principal dancer of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia; and Marcelo Gomes, the Brazilian ballet dancer who performs with the American Ballet Theatre.

Sergey Yurevitch Filin, the Russian ballet dancer and former ballet director of the Bolshoi Theater, serves as the president of the choreography division, which comprises jury members such as David Bintley, director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet; and Fang-Yi Sheu from Taiwan, the former principal dancer of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

"Hopefully, more talented people will be discovered through this. We also invite the internationally celebrated choreographers to choreograph new pieces for young dancers," says Zhao, adding that the competition is held at three NCPA venues along with workshops and ballet-related movie screenings.

"I was discovered in competitions like this. This is a great project, giving so many young dancers and choreographers the opportunity to be noticed by the audience," says Julio Bocca, the president of the jury panel of the classical ballet division.