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Participation

Teachers

27.5.–5.6.2026

IBC Helsinki is more than just a competition – it is an intensive educational experience. The IBC Helsinki organisation provides daily training classes for participants during the competition week.

Anu Sistonen

Anu Sistonen is a former soloist with the Finnish National Ballet who has also worked for several years with the Stuttgart Ballet, the Cullberg Ballet, and the Tero Saarinen Company. After her dancing career, Sistonen worked as a guest teacher with various dance groups across Europe. She began her own choreographic work and producing in the early 2000s after moving to Luxembourg. She spent 17 years there, during which time she created a total of about 15 works for her own group, Dance Development. The dancers came from Finland, France, Germany, and Luxembourg, among other countries.

During her dancing career, Sistonen performed leading roles in major classical ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet.  In addition, she danced a diverse repertoire ranging from neoclassical styles (Kylian, Neumeier, Forsythe) to contemporary dance (Ek, Naharin, Uotinen, Kvanström). Anu Sistonen was one of the first dancers in Tero Saarinen Company when it was founded, which demonstrates her interest in the growth and development of the dance community. 

Sistonen began her work as a ballet master at the Finnish National Ballet (FNB) in 2019 and continued in the same role at the English National Ballet (ENB) a couple of years later. Her time as a ballet master strongly shaped her into a teacher and coach for the next generation. In addition to her work as a choreographer and teacher, Sistonen currently serves as a member of the board of the Helsinki International Ballet Competition and as a coach for the ASKEL program, which prepares dancers for the competition.

The structure of Anu’s ballet class at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition is a typical classical ballet training session, where the warm-up begins at the barre and focuses on breathing movements and placement that strengthens technique. After a calm start, the tempo and dynamics of the movements are varied. The center exercises and jumps provide a good way to get the body moving, with special attention paid to artistry and musicality. It is very important to Anu that the class has an inspiring atmosphere! Kristina Grice serves as the pianist in Anu’s lessons.

Jarmo Rastas

Jarmo Rastas has worked as a dancer and teacher at the Finnish National Ballet for over 57 years. He worked as a dancer until 1996, dancing leading roles in all the classical ballets, such as Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Spartacus, Giselle, and The Seven Brothers. In 1987, Rastas also began working as a ballet master at the Finnish National Ballet, when the ballet director at that time, Professor Doris Laine, asked him to give a morning class for the company. Since then, dancers have loved Rastas’ ballet classes, to which he brings his own captivating energy. Today, Rastas works as a guest principal teacher at the Finnish National Ballet.

Jarmo feels that during the morning classes at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition, dancers don’t need teaching anymore, but rather, his most important task is to help them relax and warm up for their competition performances. Dmitry Pavlov, with whom Jarmo has worked for over twenty years, accompanies him on the piano during his classes.

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