Competition since 1988

1988 was the first year of the Daldansen Ballet Competition and Mora Municipality was the host and responsible party. Ballet was a completely unknown concept for the majority of the district’s population and was not on the cultural map in Mora. The driving force behind the project was Sirkka-Liisa Forslund who was then employed as a dance teacher in Mora Municipality. Together with the local politicians she purposed a dance festival. She was determined that it could find support,  and with the experience and knowledge she possessed, she was convinced that it would be possible.

From its beginning as a national competition, the contest was expanded in 1995 to include all the Nordic countries. Since 2000 the competition has also included participants from the Baltic countries. In 2003 Daldansen began a collaboration with the Grasse Internationell Ballet Competition in Grasse, France. The winner of the Nordic Baltic Ballet Competition is  automatically qualified to participate in Grasse.

The interest in the competition is evident, for example, in the number of registered participants. Today, not all applicants can be accepted. They must first participate in a selection process in their respective national operahouses before being accepted to the Nordic Baltic Ballet Competition.

In 1996 Daldansen, formally a local foundation, became a nonprofit organization.

In 2010 the competition made a very beneficial move from Mora to Falun. The competition suffered a great loss in January 2011 with the death of its founder and driving force, Sirkka-Liisa Forslund.

Jonas Kåge, from Stockholm, international principal dancer, artistic director, choreographer and teacher, was appointed Artistic Director prior to the 2012 competition.

In 2020 the competition could not be held due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021 the comptition took a mayor step and moved to Gothenburg to be held at the main stage of the Gothenburg Opera House. Swedish National Ballet School with Artistic Director Sebastian Michanek took over as a new host for the competition. The competition changed name to Prix du Nord.