Dancer

Destination Vienna

30.3.-01.04.2026

 

THE VIENNA INTERNATIONAL BALLET EXPERIENCE - VIBE

is not your ordinary dance competition but the world’s first competition for dancers with and without disabilities. It is an auspicious occasion to promote inclusion, cultural exchange and mutual understanding among its participating candidates and the audience.

The Vienna International Ballet Experience is open to dance students and professionals with and without disabilities and serves the purpose of further education through scholarships, workshops with renown directors, choreographers and ballet masters and promoting the arts.

 

 

 

Team

Gregor
Hatala

PRESIDENT

Kurt
Fuckenrieder

Stage Manager

Alexandra
Zehetner

Board Member Culture Concepts

Balázs
Delbó

Dance Videographer

Foto ©Rene Brunhölzl

SCORING SYSTEM & JURY

The competition consists of two rounds implementing a 60 point scoring system - a maximum of 20 points can be given for technical skills, while the artistic performance can receive up to 40 points!

The best 25% - 30% of competition entries of each category will pass on to the final round, if a minimum of 40 points is achieved.

In the final round an average of 30 points is required for a third place, an average of 40 points for a second and an average of 50 points for a first place, although these numbers are subject to change, depending on the number of participants, the level of competition entries and average scores given by the jury.

Solos and Duos will be judged together while Small Groups and Ensembles form separate categories.

The VIBE jury, consisting of internationally recognized directors, choreographers and ballet masters, is in charge of the evaluation, workshops and scholarships.

Prize winners and pieces specially chosen by their unique merit, will perform at the final gala performance, together with international guest dancers.
The jury reserves the right to not present all of the announced awards or to share prizes between participants.

The jury’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal.

Please be aware that VIBE does NOT hand out individual scores or jury sheets to the participants.

VIBE offers their participants the possibility for WORKSHOPS, which are considered a major part of the Vienna International Ballet Experience. These Masterclasses give the young artists the possibility to be seen and work with jury members and meet performers from all around the world, regardless of their origin or abilities.

Patrick Armand

Artistic Director
Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera

Fredy Franzutti

Artistic Director
Balletto Del Sud

Marguerite Donlon

Artistic Director
Donlon Dance Collective

Prof. Juliana Sabino Wilhelm

Head of Dance program and Vice- rector/ Study Affairs
Palucca Hochschule für Tanz/ Dresden

Kaie Kõrb

Artistic director
Tallinn School of Music and Ballet

Raphaël Coumes-Marquet

Artistic Director
Ballett am Rhein

Adriaan Luteijn

Artistic Initiator
Introdans

Àkos Sebestyén

Representative
Zurich Dance Academy

Cecilia Selander Moss

Artistic Director
Royal Swedish Ballet School

Michele Politi

Representative
PNSD Rosella Hightower

Aivars Leimanis

Artistic Director
Latvian National Ballet

Roberto Altamura

Artistic Director
Milano City Ballet

Tamás Solymosi

Artistic Director
Hungarian National Ballet

Christian Tichy

form. Balletmaster
Vienna State Opera

Roberto
Altamura

Artistic Director
Milano City Ballet

Virginia Spallarossa

Artistic Director
Déjà Donné

Adriaan Luteijn

Artistic Manager 
Introdans

Thomas Poms
Lisa Tatzber

VIBE Gala Choreographers
Indeed Unique

Tamás Solymosi

Artistic Director
Hungarian National Ballet

Sara-Nora Krysteva

Artistic Director
Sofia National Opera and Ballet

Virginia Spallarossa

Artistic Director
Déjà Donné

Christian Tichy

form. Balletmaster
Vienna State Opera

Rick Tjia

Talent Scout Cirque du Soleil
Choreography Online

Michele Politi

Balletmaster and Representative of
PSND Rosella Hightower

Additional Guest Teachers 2020

 

Silvia
Tzankova

Ballet Mistress

Thomas Poms
Lisa Tatzber

VIBE Gala Choreographers
Indeed Unique

Mike
Loewenrosen

Artistic Director/ Sunrise Studios
 

Albert
Mirzoyan

Ballet Master/ Vienna State Ballet

KrisTina
Decker

Artistic Director/ Broadway Connection

Tamás Solymosi

Artistic Director
Hungarian National Ballet

Filip Barankiewicz

Artistic Director
Czech National Ballet

KIM YONG WOO

Director of K-Wheel Dance Project and the Korea Association of Disability Artists

Robert Parker

Artistic Director
Elmhurst Ballet School

Kerry Nicholls

Artistic Director
Kerry Nichols Dance

Laura Comi

Artistic Director Ballet School of the Opera Theatre in Rome

Roberto
Altamura

Additional Guest Teachers 2019

 

Paula
Rostas

 

Vladimir
Shishov

 

Albert
Mirzoyan

Balletmaster

Silvia
Tzankova

Ballet Mistress

Mike
Loewenrosen

Jazz

Wei-Ken
LIAO

Jazz

Maria
Naber

VIBE Prize winner 2017, 2018

Hana
Zanin

Ich bin O.K. Dance Company

EVGENIY
BELYAEV

Balletmaster/ Character Dance

Christian
Tichy

Balletmaster

Thomas Poms
Lisa Tatzber

VIBE Choreographers

János Kiss

Artistic Director Györ Ballet

Richard Bowman

Artistic Director of Napa Valley Ballet

KIM YONG WOO

Director of K-Wheel Dance Project and the Korea Association of Disability Artists

Leon
Kupferschmid

Artistic Talent Scout for Cirque Du Soleil

Tamás
Solymosi

Ballet Director Hungarian National Ballet

Guy
de Bock

Balletmaster

Additional Guest Teachers 2018

 

Christian
Tichy

Balletmaster

Milan
Hatala

Balletmaster

Felix
Röper

VIBE prize winner 2017

Thomas Poms
Lisa Tatzber

VIBE prize winner 2017

Simon
Couvreur

VIBE prize winner 2017

Kirin
Espana

Contemporary/ Dance Special teacher

Silvia
Tzankova

Ballet Mistress

Alice
Necsea

Ballet Mistress

Wei-Ken
LIAO

Jazz

Mike Loewenrosen

Jazz

Roberto
Altamura

Tamás
Solymosi

Ben
Van Cauwenbergh

Nadia
Deferm

Jozef
Dolinsky

Rasta
Thomas

Filip
Barankiewicz

Maria
Sascha Khan

Roberto Altamura

Artistic Director Milano City Ballet School

Robert Parker

Artistic Director Elmhurst Ballet School

Jozef Dolinsky

Artistic Director Slovakian National Ballet

Dawn Weller

Artistic Director The Graduate College of Dance

Kerry Nicholls

Artistic Director Kerry Nichols Dance

János Kiss

Artistic Director Györ Ballet

Richard Bowman

International guest teacher and coach

Additional Guest Teachers 2017

 

Melissa Hinz

VIBE USA winner 2017
Tap

Wei-Ken LIAO

Jazz

Alina Ciceo /
Radu Domsa

VIBE winner 2016
Contemporary Pas de Deux

Christian Tichy

Balletmaster

Milan Hatala

Balletmaster

Judith-Elisa Kaufmann

Tanzmedizin

Prizes and scholarships

  • Future Talent 500€
  • Junior Outstanding Performance Grad Prix 1.000€
  • Special Outstanding Performance Grad Prix 1.000€
  • Senior Outstanding Performance Grad Prix 1.000€

 

  • Tamás Solymosi: 2x Company class with the Hungarian National Ballet for 1 week
  • Àkos Sebestyén: Short term scholarship (3 days - 1 week) to the Dance Academy Zurich
  • Patrick Armand: Short term scholarship and possible admission to the Ballet Academy of the Vienna State Opera
  • Juliana Sabino Wilhelm: Short term scholarship and possible admission to the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz/ Dresden
  • Marguerite Donlon: Company class and rehearsal attendance with the Opera & Ballet Ljubljana, Slovenia (Artistic Director: Lukas Zuschlag) for 1 or 2 weeks
  • Fredy Franzutti: 4 internships with Balletto del Sud for 6 months or 1 year

Rules

  • All amateurs, students and professionals, with or without disabilities, of all nationalities, are eligible to compete in the competition and participate in the workshops.
  • Participants are expected to perform at least ONE variation, Duo/Pas de Deux, Group or Ensemble piece, but are allowed to perform as many pieces as they want.
  • In the Solo/ Duo category only ONE piece per participant per category will proceed to the second round, depending on the scores given.

 

Participants may enter the competition in the following DANCE STYLES and CATEGORIES:

Dance Styles:
Classical Ballet - Semi Professional/ Professional: Any choreography based on the Classical Ballet repertoire (i.e. Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle,…).
Neoclassical Ballet - Semi Professiona/ Professional: Any choreography based on Classical Ballet technique that is not part of the Classical Ballet repertoire.
Semi-Professional: A dancer who trains 3 times a week or less.
Professional: A dancer who trains 4 times a week or more.
This does not apply to the „Mini“ age category.
Contemporary: All Contemporary dance techniques allowed. (No Classical Ballet technique permitted.)
Character/ National Dance: All traditional folk dances allowed. (A Ballet character- dance would NOT apply to this category!)
Open Category: Any style of dance is allowed, except for Classical/ Neoclassical Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary and Character/ National Dances.
Jazz: All Jazz dance styles allowed.
Dance Special/ Para Dance: All dance styles for dancers with special educational needs and/ or physical disabilities allowed.

Participants must reserve all rights to the choreography they are performing!

Number of Dancers:
Solo
Duo/ Pas de Deux
Group (up to 6 dancers)
Ensemble (7 or more dancers)

Age categories
Mini: up to age 9
Children: 9 - 11
Junior I: 12 - 14
Junior II: 15 - 18
Senior: 19 plus

The age category is determined by the dancer’s age at the first day of the competition, and participation fees must be paid accordingly.

For participants in the Duo, Group and Ensemble pieces, the average age of the dancers will determine the age category in which they participate and therefore the performance fee might change.

It is of highly important that the choreography is suited to the contestants age and capability (e.g. point shoes are not mandatory!).

MUSIC:

All Solos /Duos may not exceed 3:00 min (except Dance Special: please contact office@vibe.international for your choice of music).

All Group / Ensemble pieces may not exceed 4:30 min (except Dance Special: please contact office@vibe.international for your choice of music).
Classical Ballet Pas de Deux as dictated by the established choreography and music.
Choreography without music will be counted as part of the choreography's duration - the registering person has to give notice to VIBE about this when the music is sent.
If the registering person or participant fails to inform VIBE in time, the piece will have to start with the music.
With regards to the duration of the music, a maximum of 10 seconds will be tolerated, beyond the time limit, but only to allow for the musical phrase to finish.
The use of music with improper language is not permitted.

After all participants have received the final order of the competition with their competition number, the music has to be sent by email to music@vibe.international as an mp3 file and labelled in the following order:
1. Three digit VIBE competition number (i.e. 001, 002,…)
2. Name of piece performed
3. Name and Surname of participant/s (for groups and ensembles: name of school)

Incorrectly labelled music will not be accepted as well as music sent less than 2 weeks prior to the first day of competition.

Please note that we can only start preparing the schedule and competition numbers after we have received all the excel files from the participants!

1. The competition fees do not include insurance for the participants. VIBE assumes no liability for the dancers' participation during the competition. The organization declines any responsibility for accidents that may occur during the competition and workshops and/or for the theft or loss of personal property.

2. The use of props is subject to previous approval by VIBE, during the registration process. Props that cannot be carried on stage by the dancers themselves are not allowed, as well as props/costumes that identify the competing school, litter the stage or take more than a few seconds to prepare.

3. The display of political, national and/or religious statements is strictly forbidden.

4. VIBE reserves the right to use any photo or video recording of the participants’ during the competition for promotional / commercial purposes. - Participants and their parents and/or legal guardians give VIBE their express permission to use any such photo/video recordings (including those containing their name or likeness) for VIBE's promotional purposes (including any uses in print, online or social media).

5. A registration, once accepted and valid, may be cancelled at any time by the organizer with immediate effects, whenever a competitor, member of a school or supporter shows the lack of respect and/ or mistreats any member of the organization, the jury or a fellow competitor or when the rules and regulations of the competition are not upheld.

6. The cancellation of a registration will be communicated verbally or by email to the participant or teacher responsible for the competitor/ school and is not subject to complaint or contest. There is no refund of participation fees and compensation for other costs and expenses of the disqualified dancer/ school.

7. All registered participants/ schools accept the rules and regulations of VIBE.

FEES and REGISTRATION

Registration Fee:
60€ per person

Performance Fee:
Minis / Children / Dance Special / Para Dance SOLO / DUO: 30€  per piece, per person.
Minis / Children / Dance Special / Para Dance GROUP: 25€  per piece, per person.
Minis / Children / Dance Special / Para Dance ENSEMBLE: 25€  per piece, per person.

Junior I / Junior II / Senior SOLO / DUO: 55€ per piece, per person.
Junior I / Junior II / Senior GROUP / ENSEMBLE: 35€ per piece, per person.
Junior I / Junior II / Senior GROUP / ENSEMBLE: 35€ per piece, per person.

Performance Fee Final Round: 15€ per piece

Workshop fee: 15€ per class attended, payable at the workshop location .

- Duos, Group and Ensemble pieces have to be registered and paid by one person/ school and cannot be registered or paid individually.

- Non-disabled dancers assisting/ performing with competitors in the DANCE SPECIAL/ PARA DANCE category as non-competing partners, participate free of charge and do not count as participants. (Please note in the field „comments“).

- In case of withdrawal from the competition the registration fee is non refundable. In case of withdrawal less than 2 weeks prior to the competition, the complete fee is non refundable.

- VIBE has the right to refuse any application at its discretion.

- Any modification of your original registration after your data has been processed, will involve a processing fee of 50€ per piece.

- After submitting your registration form you will receive an email with payment details and an excel file, which has to be filled in with all the information required about your participation, and resent to us as soon as possible, but latest at the last day of the registration period.
The transfer of the participation fee has to be done within ONE week after completing your online registration.

 

Österreichischer Meister

 

For Austrian citizenship holders and schools registered in Austria - Austrian Championship
Für österreichische Staatsbürger und in Österreich gemeldeten Schulen - Österreichische Meisterschaften

Wir freuen uns sehr Ihnen mitteilen zu dürfen, daß APAD, die Austrian Performing Arts Dancesport Association (www.apad.or.at), VIBE mit der exklusiven Austragung der

ÖSTERREICHISCHEN MEISTERSCHAFTEN

in den Kategorien „Ballett", "Neoklassisches Ballett" und „Contemporary“ in den Altersklassen ab 9 Jahren beauftragt hat!

Bei Teilnahme besteht somit die Möglichkeit, unabhängig von der Platzierung im internationalen Feld des Wettbewerbs, den Titel „ÖSTERREICHISCHER MEISTER“ zu erringen.

Daraus ergeben sich folgende Vorteile:

- Offizieller Meisterschaftstitel mit Urkunde und Medaille der „Sport Austria“
- Möglichkeit der Anerkennung als Leistungssportler/innen
- Zugang zu Förderungen im Bereich Leistungssport
- Temporäre, kostenlose APAD Mitgliedschaft

Alle Teilnehmer in der Kategorie „Solo" benötigen eine österreichische Staatsbürgerschaft, bei Duos zumindest einer der Teilnehmer. Für Gruppen und Ensembles ist der ordentliche Sitz der Schule in Österreich Voraussetzung.

Ein Unkostenbeitrag von 2€ pro Person wird Ihrer Anmeldung hinzugefügt.
Bitte markieren Sie hierfür den Schalter „Österreichischer Meister“ bei Ihrer Anmeldung.

Hiermit erfolgt auch die Zustimmung zur Einhaltung der Anti- Doping Bestimmungen der Satzungen des ÖTSV (§20) und der Weitergabe der Namen der Tänzer bzw. Schule und der entsprechenden Kategorie durch VIBE zwecks Ausstellung der „Sport Austria“ Urkunde.

 

Registration Form


 

Registrations will be open December 1st 2025 - February 22nd 2026

 


   
Foto © Rene Brunhölzl

Agenda

Workshop location:

MUK, Bräunerstrasse 5, 1010 Wien

Competition and Registrations location:

Theater Akzent, Theresianumgasse 18, 1040 Wien

March 30th 
• 09.30 - 21.30 Junior/ Senior categories 1st Round

March 31st 
• 09.30 - 21.30 Mini/ Children/ Junior/ Senior 1st Round, Junior/ Senior Final Round

April 1st 
• 09.00 - 12.30 Junior/ Senior, Mini/ Children Final Round, 
• 15.00 - 18.00 Prize Ceremony
• 19.30 - 21.00 VIBE Gala Performance

Times are subject to change!

Foto ©Rene Brunhölzl

Poster

Legal notice

 

VIBE - Vienna International Ballet Experience
ZVR:353298946
Finkengasse 13
2230 Gänserndorf, Österreich
office@vibe.international
+43 676 6243363