Sophia Li, Executive Director
Dear Dance Enthusiasts!
I am Sophia Li, president of the European Dance Association and the executive director of the Ballet Grand Prix Vienna.
As a classical musician and music editor, I have been engaged in cultural and artistic exchanges in Austria for more than 20 years. Although not being a dancer but having been involved organising ballet activities, my enthusiasm for this beautiful art form has grown which has led me to build the community of the Ballet Grand Prix Vienna at an international level.
Being a platform focusing on the arts, the Ballet Grand Prix Vienna acts as a bridge for cultural exchanges across the world and provides support for not only the emerging but also the professional dancer. With dance being a universal languages in the world, this event aims to achieve the goal of attracting more people from all over the world coming to Vienna and at the same time to bring young talents to the city’s art movement.
The 11th edition of the Ballet Grand Prix Vienna will be held in Vienna in July 2024, which is also a date for celebration, as it was formerly the first national competition of ÖTR, initiated by professors Karl Musil and Evelyn Téri in 1996. Since then, the ÖTR has become an international competition with six successive editions and has been very successful and influential. All other editions were successfully organised by the Eudance with the latter taking place virtually amidst the global pandemic.
I am looking forward to welcoming all wonderful young dance artists to Vienna in 2024!
Prof. Evelyn Téri, Artistic Director
Born in Hungary, Prof. Evelyn Téri graduated with honours from the Hungarian State Ballet School and was taught by Hedwig Hidas, Horwath Margit, Boris Kniaseff, Olga Lepeschinskaya, Marika Besobrasova, Anne Wooliamns and Victor Gsovsky, among others. With her international career as a ballet soloist in Hungary, Germany, France, Japan and South America, she has guest appearances in several countries and worked with major names such as John Cranko, George Balanchine, Anton Dolin, Gyula Harangozo, Peter van Dyck and Horst Müller.
Her principal parts in the classical ballets included Giselle, Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Coppelia, Don Quixote, La fille mal Gardée, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and many more.
She was the artistic project director and professor at the MUK in Vienna, at the Accademia Nationale di Danza in Rome and at the Conservatoire Ljubljana. Evelyn also taught classical ballet, character dance by giving classes and workshops to companies, as well as to the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera.
Evelyn choreographed ballets including Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake and the Vienna Opera Ball for the Wiener Staatsballet.
In 2019, she was honoured with the Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Reüublic to Austria by the Austrian government. In 2016, she was honoured with the “Ordre de Chevalier” by the Hungarian Republic. In 2014, she received the Fanny Elssler Prize. In 2003, she was awarded the honorary title “Professor” by the Austrian government, and in 2002 by the Hungarian Dance Academy.
She was the executive director of the ÖTR – Austrian Dance Council and is now the artistic director of the Ballet Grand Prix Vienna.