a boy from Complexo do Alemão wins the competition with more than three thousand dancers and enters the Bolshoi school

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Victor Hugo was selected during the final stage of the 2026 National Selection at the Bolshoi School to enter the 1st year of the classical dance course in Joinville (SC). A ViDançar student for a little over a year, his trajectory surprises with its speed and strength.

The dispute involved candidates from Santa Catarina, 17 other Brazilian states as well as Argentina and Peru. More than three thousand dancers participated in the preselections throughout the year. During the face-to-face phase, held at the Bolshoi headquarters, 320 children were assessed through medical physiotherapy tests — which analyzed posture, strength, physical structure and motor skills — and artistic, musical and cognitive assessments, which observed musicality, technique, flexibility, stage projection and intellectual performance.

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In the end, 38 children were selected for classical dance and 20 for the preparatory course. The training, which begins in February 2026, is free and includes food, transportation, costumes, uniforms, social assistance, health care and the entire technical structure of the school. Victor Hugo, his parents and his older brother Kauã, aged 15, are already beginning preparations to leave Rio de Janeiro.

Before ballet, Victor trained in artistic gymnastics at Flamengo and became a member of the federation, but the dance always spoke louder. According to her mother, Jessika Coelho, the heavy gymnastics routine and the costs of training an artist in the community made everything difficult.

— But Vitinho really did it — she said.

The turning point came when the family discovered ViDançar. An audition organized within the project itself guaranteed the boy a full scholarship to the Gouveia Coaching Studio, where he began his training with Professor Renata Gouveia, responsible for preparing him for the Bolshoi selection.

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For Ellen Serra, founder and CEO of ViDançar, seeing a student approved is cause for celebration:

— It’s fascinating to witness the transformation of a family from the periphery thanks to art.

Sylvana Albuquerque, coordinator of the Bolshoi national team, highlights the care taken in the process:

— Many children arrive full of expectations and fears. Our role is to welcome them, he said.

News of the approval came with tears and disbelief, as the mother recalls:

— I heard him scream even before the scheduled time. I was moved, incredulous.

The family decides to move to Joinville to follow the boy’s routine. To make their new life possible, they organize a fundraiser and count on the support of relatives and friends. Even though he is preparing to leave, Victor keeps his roots as his guide.

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— He wants to come back to inspire other boys in the community — said his mother.

And the projects already go beyond the framework of the Bolshoi:

— He’s been talking about the Paris Opera since he was little — she said, moved. — The family always needs support, especially when it comes to a child artist, within the community. I will never stop repeating: “You are good, you will succeed”.