Positano Rewards Dance - Positano Léonide Massine Prize for the Art of Dance

The world's oldest dance award

Founded in 1969 by Luca Vespoli, with the support of dance critic and historian Alberto Testa, the Positano Léonide Massine Prize for the Art of Dance is recognized as the world's oldest dance accolade. The first edition, then simply called the "Positano Prize," was held on August 2, 1969. About a decade later, the event was named in memory of Léonide Massine, the dancer and choreographer of the Ballets Russes who chose Positano as his sanctuary and forever linked his name to the Li Galli islands, the archipelago visible on the horizon off the coast.

A gala evening on the Spiaggia Grande

The heart of the event is the grand gala that transforms the Spiaggia Grande of Positano into an open-air theater every year in early September: a stage set on the sand, the tiled dome of the church of Santa Maria Assunta in the background, and the sea and boat lights in front. It is one of the most evocative stages in the Mediterranean, and for over fifty years, it has welcomed established stars and young performers from the world's greatest theaters: the Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi, the Wiener Staatsballett, and the Teatro alla Scala. The program always alternates between classical repertoire—Petipa, Balanchine, and the great 19th-century ballets—and contemporary creations, capturing the breadth of today's dance in a single evening.

The awards

The international jury, composed of company directors, critics, and dance world personalities, presents a dozen awards. The historic categories include:

• Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prestigious of the event;
• Dancer of the Year (male and female) for the international scene;
• Dancer of the Year (male and female) for the contemporary scene;
• awards for Italian performers of classical and contemporary repertoire;
• Revelation of the Year, dedicated to emerging performers;
• Choreographer of the Year and Company of the Year;
• the «Luca Vespoli» Special Prize for dance promotion, named after the founder.

It is to Vespoli that we owe the motto that has always closed the ceremony: "Where there is dance, there is hope."

A project by the Municipality of Positano

A rare case in the Italian landscape, the prize is entirely funded and organized by the Municipality of Positano, in the province of Salerno, Campania: it is not a commercial festival but a cultural investment by the city in its own identity. Since 2016, following Alberto Testa and Daniele Cipriani, the artistic direction has been entrusted to Laura Valente, who has strengthened the event's international network—including a twinning with the Prix Benois de la Danse of the Bolshoi Theatre—and added public meetings, masterclasses, and multidisciplinary projects linked to the town's archaeological heritage, such as the enhancement of the Roman Villa. Admission to the evening is traditionally free, reflecting the administration's desire to bring dance to a wide audience.

The most recent edition

The 53rd edition took place on Saturday, September 6, 2025: the Lifetime Achievement Award went to the French-Albanian choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, while the title of Dancer of the Year was awarded to Liudmila Konovalova Konovalova, principal dancer of the Wiener Staatsballett. The evening also saw the debut of an award dedicated to urban dance and the third edition of the International "Communicating Art and Archaeology" Prize. Previous editions were held on September 7, 2024 (52nd), September 2, 2023 (51st), and August 31, 2022 (50th): the calendar thus confirms the first half of September as the usual window for the event.

Positano, the Vertical City

Attending the prize also means experiencing Positano outside the peak summer tourist season. The "Vertical City" of the Amalfi Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site, finds a more human rhythm in September: the stairways between the colorful houses, the Spiaggia dei Mulini, the paths toward Nocelle and the Path of the Gods, and the ferries connecting Amalfi, Sorrento, and Capri. On the evening of the gala, the entire village overlooks the beach, and dance returns, as Massine wished, to being a village festival with an international spirit.