Kostyukov awarded Terpsichore Prize on Int'l Dance Day

BELGRADE - Ballet dancer and choreographer Konstantin Kostyukov received the Terpsichore Prize on Tuesday at a ceremony organised by the Serbian Association of Professional Ballet Dancers, Choreographers and Pedagogues at the Museum of the National Theatre in Belgrade to mark the International Dance Day.

Association President Aleksandar Ilic told Tanjug that this year the artists themselves prepared programmes on several stages in Belgrade to honour the occasion.

Thanking the Ministry of Culture and Information, which once again co-funded the Terpsichore Prize, unanimously awarded to Kostyukov, who has reigned supreme on the Serbian ballet scene for the last two decades.

Kostyukov, the acting director of the ballet company of the National Theatre, thanked the audience for its support and the jury for acknowledging his work, but did not want to speak about the prize, instead addressing the problems affecting ballet.

He called on the government to pay attention to the art of ballet, which he said exists in conditions that are barely sufficient for its survival, and added that the problem also affects ballet schools for children.

"We talk a lot about Serbian identity and the nation, but we turn a blind eye to national institutions - I hope that the Ministry of Culture will deal with this," he said.

The International Dance Day celebrations ended late Tuesday with a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Kostyukov as the choreographer and director.

Guest performer Denis Nedak was cast in the leading role.

A national artist of Ukraine since 2011, Nedak has been the principal ballet dancer of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev since 2008.

Before the...