In a light-filled room on Manhattan’s West Side, a girl from El Salvador and a boy from Azerbaijan meet for the first time. Within minutes, they find themselves holding hands, embracing, and exchanging tender looks. They have no shared language, except for the international language of – no, not love (puh-leeze) – ballet.

These two dancers, Evelyn Cancino and Ulvi Azizov, are among the 24 couples who are entered in the New York International Ballet Competition. During the last two weeks, they’ve spent every day in dance classes and rehearsals at the studios of the Joan Weill Center for Dance. Tomorrow night they take the stage for the first of three rounds of competition at Alice Tully Hall, all of which is open to the public.

By Sunday, there will be winners, but this competition is structured in a way that does not engender things like nasty looks, cruel whispers, or schadenfreude. Instead, there is a sense of community – a shared love of dance and dedication to it.

Founded in 1984, the NYIBC brings dancers, aged 17 to 24, to New York City for three weeks. Most dancers enter the competition in pairs, while some enter as singles to be matched up with partners. The dancers are judged – on a point system – individually rather than as pairs. A series of gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to men and women, but the gold medal does not simply go to the dancer with the highest score. It is a rare honor, bestowed only when the judges feel the award is merited.

What makes this competition different from others is that all of the participants learn the same material – from the same teachers within the same amount of time. “In a usual competition, you come already prepared with something. Here, everybody is learning the same thing,” said Elza Leimane, a 20-year-old from Latvia, who likens the experience to a workshop or summer camp. “You learn something, and then you get to dance it in the end.”

This year, the 48 dancers are learning two classical pas de deux: one from “La Fille mal Gardee,” the other from “Satanella.” They’re also learning one modern duet: “Choreographic Offering” by Jose Limon.

For the first round, on Wednesday and Thursday nights, each of the 24 couples will dance the choreography from “La Fille mal Gardee.” The judges will invite a smaller group of dancers (the number is not set) to advance to the second round on Friday night, at which time they will dance the Limon duet and their individual solos. The winners of the second round will compete on Saturday in the third with the “Satanella” pas de deux. The winners will be announced on Sunday at an awards ceremony and gala performance.

Though it may sound disappointing that many of the couples will be eliminated before they get to perform what they have learned, these young dancers have a different take.

“It’s not about the competition,” said Monika Zaherova, 21, who hails from the Czech Republic. She and her partner of three years, Michal Pimek, are dancers in the Brno National Theater Ballet. They entered the competition for the opportunity to take classes with new teachers and to study more choreography. “We wanted to learn,” said Ms. Zaherova, a cheerful, friendly girl with a Pat Benatar-type haircut.

Likewise, Mr.Azizov ,20, of Azerbaijan, says his main purpose is not winning, but learning. Which explains his calm attitude toward entering the competition alone. Was he worried about dancing with a new partner? “No. No problem!” he said through a translator.

His translator for the interview was a fellow competitor: Raimonds Martinovs, 22, from Latvia. In a loose translation, Mr. Martinovs explained Mr. Azizov’s thoughts on the competition in a way that was clear, if not in idiomatic English: “If he comes only win, he will make nothing.”

Mr. Martinovs – who is the partner of Ms. Leimane – seemed pleased and eager to translate, which is not uncommon among this crew of international dancers. Another interaction, one that is even more illustrative of this program’s friendly spirit, happened in a studio where former ballerina Valentina Kozlova was teaching the choreography to the “Satanella” pas de deux. A young woman from Spain clearly did not understand a certain step – even though she was nodding and smiling aggressively. Ms. Kozlova could see that the dancer needed to hear the instructions in her own language. “You don’t speak English? Do you speak French? Russian!?” she tried hopefully.

The program’s Spanish translator was not around at that moment, but all was not lost. From a few rows back, a tall boy in a red bandanna offered to translate from English to Spanish. Though it was a simple gesture, it illustrated how much this really is about the process, not just the medal: these competitors step forward to help each other. If it were all about winning, why would they bother?

While winning would certainly be a feather in any dancer’s cap, some of the participants have already laid the foundation of a solid career without the laurels. Mr. Martinovs and Ms. Leimane, the Latvian couple, are both soloists in the Riga Ballet, the ballet company of the Latvian National Opera (the former home of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alexander Godunov). Both have already danced principal roles.

What could advance their careers in a meaningful way is getting in front of this competition’s judges, who are artistic directors of ballet companies around the world. This year, they include Stanton Welch of the Houston Ballet; Alexei Ratmansky of the Bolshoi Ballet; Andre Lewis of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet; Victor Ullate of Spain’s Victor Ullate Ballet; and Xin Li Li, of the Shanghai Ballet.

“We also have artistic directors in the audience,” said NYIBC director Ilona Copen. “Many, many of the dancers are discovered.”

Ms. Copen, a former dancer herself, founded the program with the hope of creating a fair competition that also nurtured dancers. “It’s a very even field to judge. They’re not coming in with circus tricks and acts,” she said.

As for the nurturing, it, too, is still part of the plan. The three-week stay is entirely free. The dancers live in dorms at Fordham College, but they’re also paired with a “host” family (one that speaks their language) as a means of hospitality and advice on city living. Meals are provided by the program. After hours, there is still time for more dance. This year, everyone was given a ticket to Broadway’s “Movin’ Out,” as well as a performance of either New York City Ballet or American Ballet Theatre.

The performance tickets were donated by the respective dance companies, and the program has several generous sponsors, including CitiBank, Capezio, and Hotel Beacon. But the NYIBC is truly a shoestring operation. Fund raising is an annual challenge, but Ms.Copen estimates that all the program needs is an endowment of about $2 million.

“I don’t need $10 million,” she said. “If people really understood what we do, how it changes the lives of these talented dancers, how it affects understanding between cultures, we would have no problem. It just takes coming in and seeing it.”

To do so, call or visit the box office at Alice Tully Hall: 212-721-6500 or www.lincolncenter.org. Tickets to the first three rounds are $27.50. Gala tickets are $70.