Igor Tsviriko First soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet Dance Open: 2018, 2019Dance Open Award: Best Duet 2018

Born in the town of Odintsovo in Moscow District, he graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography in 2007 and was immediately accepted into the company of the Bolshoi Ballet. In 2013, he was awarded II prize at the XVII International Ballet Competition in Moscow. His repertoire includes roles in The Nutcracker, Chroma (to music by Joby Talbot and Jack White), Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Jewels, The Legend of Love, and A Hero of Our Time.

Melissa Hamilton First Soloist, Royal Ballet Covent Garden Invited Principal Dancer, Semperoper Ballet Dance Open: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019

She was born in Northern Ireland and began her training there. Her talent was obvious but there were no professional ballet schools in Northern Ireland and her parents insisted on receiving basic general education in her home town. When she was 16, she was rejected the entry at the Royal Ballet School, but the Elmhurst School of Dance gave her the second chance. In a year almost all the ballet coaches, although pointing out her talent, admitted that it would not seem possible to catch up with her peers who started their training 5–6 years earlier. And, yet, the luck did not leave Melissa — she was noticed by Maria Mukhamedova, the former dancer with the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia and the spouse of Irek Mukhamedov, the legend of the Bolshoi. In 7 months of intensive individual training Melissa achieved the impossible: she won the Grand Prix of the Youth Ballet Competition of America and was invited to join the American Ballet Theater II. She preferred to stay in Europe and started performing with the Royal Ballet, where she was promoted to the rank of the First Soloist in 2013. She received the Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Female Performance (2009). Along with performing a wide classical repertoire, she works a lot with contemporary choreographers. Among them are Wayne McGregor (Infra, Limen, Carbon Life, Chroma, Raven Girl); Christopher Wheeldon (Tryst, DGV, Fool’s Paradise) and David Dawson(Human Seasons). She started working with Wayne McGregor in 2008 on his ballet Infra and has since created several roles for McGregor, including in Woolf Works, Limen, Carbon Life and Acis and Galatea. McGregor names her among one of his muses. Since 2015 she has been performing as the invited principal dancer with the Semperoper Ballet.

Sterling Hyltin Principal Dancer of the New York City Ballet Dance Open: 2013

Sterling Hyltin was born in Amarillo, Texas. She began her dance training at the age of six at the Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, where she studied with Ann Etgen and Bill Atkinson. Ms. Hyltin entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, full time in the fall of 2000. In October 2002, Ms. Hyltin became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in June 2003 she joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. In March of 2006 she was promoted to soloist. Ms. Hyltin was promoted to Principal Dancer in May 2007.

Christopher Harrison Principal Dancer of the Scottish Ballet Dance Open: 2018

Born in Scotland, after training at the Dance School of Scotland and the Royal Ballet School he danced solo roles with the ballet company of the Semperoper Ballet. In 2005, he joined the company of Scottish Ballet, and in 2013 he was appointed principal. In 2014, he danced a duet with Sophie Martin at the opening ceremony of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.