More than a thousand dancers from all over Sri Lanka took part in the classical ballet examinations conducted by the famous Russian ballerina Oxana Karnovich. According to the Head of the Russian Cultural Centre in Colombo Madam Maria Popova, the popularity of Russian ballet among Sri Lankans is constantly growing.

Oxana Karnovich examined more than 1,000 dancers of different age categories, among which were not only students of eight ballet instructors of the Russian House ballet studio in Colombo, but also students from ballet schools from all over the island, who came from Galle, Negombo, Wattala, Matara, Wenappuwa, Meegoda, Puttalam, Kurunegala, Kandy, Ratnapura, Ja-Ela, Gampaha, Panadura, and Biyagama, specially for the prestigious examination.

The honoured Russian ballerina, head of the Maya Plisetskaya Museum-Apartment under the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum, senior lecturer of the Department of Choreography and Ballet Studies of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, Oxana Karnovich has been visiting Sri Lanka for 12 years, each October. This time, she traditionally headed the jury at the classical ballet exams for students of the Russian School of Ballet and Dancing at the Russian House in Colombo, as well as other ballet schools of the island. The exams were held from October 20, to October 28.