3 Aussies make Finals of the Prix de Lausanne
The 44th annual prestigious international ballet competition was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, over February 1st – 6th, which saw 67 young dancers from 19 countries grace the stage for the week-long selection process.
Australia’s and New Zealand’s strength in producing talented young ballet dancers was evident in having 13 candidates selected out of hundreds of applicants to participate in the event this year. To read about these dancers click here >>https://www.dancelife.com.au/aussie-dancers-in-prix-de-lausanne/
Of these, three Australian dancers were chosen in the top twenty to perform live at the Finals on Saturday 6th February: Brayden Gallucci (Alegria Dance Studios), Makensie Henson (Prudence Bowen Atelier) & Riley Lapham (The Australian Ballet School). Australian Ballet School graduate Seu Kim, from Korea, was also selected as a finalist.
Seven of the finalists were awarded with fully-funded one-year scholarships to one of the 66 Prix de Lausanne’s partner schools and companies around the world. The seven winners were: Hang Yu, (China), Madison Young, (USA), Vincenzo Di Primo, (Italy), Leroy Mokgatle, (South Africa), Laura Fernandez, (Switzerland), Junnosuke Nakamura, (Japan) and Dingkai Bai (China).
For non-awarded candidates, the Prix de Lausanne has organises a Networking Forum: an audition giving them the opportunity to be chosen by representatives of partner schools and companies of the Prix. The Networking Forum, in addition to the experience candidates have gained, makes the competition worthwhile for all participants. Over the course of the week, jury members observed the candidates performing their chosen classical and contemporary variations. The jury was made up of 9 internationally renowned dance professionals, chaired by Mr Julio Bocca, former Principal of American Ballet Theatre, New York and director of the Ballet Nacional Sodre, Uruguay.
The 45th Annual Prix de Lausanne in 2017 will take place January 29th – February 5th.
www.prixdelausanne.org
