Winners of the international ballet prize "Benois de la Dance" have been announced at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. On Tuesday night, Zhu Yan, from the National Ballet of China was named "Best Ballerina" at the competition.

Winners of the international ballet prize "Benois de la Dance" have been announced at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. On Tuesday night, Zhu Yan, from the National Ballet of China was named "Best Ballerina" at the competition.

At this year's event, three of the nominees were from the Beijing-based National Ballet of China. Zhang Zhenxin competed in the "Best Choreographer" category, while Hao Bin and Zhu Yan pursued respectively the "Best Dancer" and "Best Ballerina" titles.

In the end, Zhu Yan was the lucky one to take home the award. The 34-year-old ballerina is the leading light of the Chinese ballet company, for dancing principal roles in scores of plays, including "Raise the Red Lantern", and "Peony Pavilion", as well as western classics "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty".

Winners of the international ballet prize "Benois de la Dance" have been announced at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. On Tuesday night, Zhu Yan, from the National Ballet of China was named "Best Ballerina" at the competition.

Zhu Yan said, "I didn't expect the award to land on my feet. On the list of nominees there have been big stars from the world's most revered ballet companies. I felt honored to be nominated with them. So I was shocked upon hearing the announcement."

The "Benois de la Dance" Award was founded on the initiative of the International Union of Choreography in 1991. Every year, it recognizes the best choreographers and ballet dancers for their achievements during the previous season.