The prestigious international competition for young dancers culminated in a dazzling Final. Each year the standard of the finalists improves and the jury this year faced a difficult task in selecting the seven scholarship winners.
Of the 205 candidates who took part in the selection round last autumn, 85 were chosen to take part in the competition in Lausanne and 74 came. The 20 dancers who delighted the public demonstrated clearly the reasons why they had made the selection for the final round.
The prizes awarded are either a year of training at one of the Prix’s partner schools or an apprenticeship at a partner company. The Jury chose the following winners from amongst the 20 finalists:
– Ms Mayara Magri, Brésil
Petite Danse School of Ballet, Rio de Janeiro Fondation Leenaards
– Mr Sung Woo Han, Corée
Korea National University of Arts, Seoul Beau-Rivage Palace
– Mr Zhang Zhiyao, Chine
Beijing Dance Academy Adveq
– Ms Patricia Zhou, Canada
Kirov Academy of Ballet, Washington D.C. Julius Bär
– Mr Shizuru Kato, Japon
AcriHorimoto Ballet Academy, Saitama Oak Foundation
– Mr Derrin Watters, USA
Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy Fondation Coromandel
– Ms Yuko Horisawa, Japon
Reiko Yamamoto Ballet School, Ota Fondations Pittet et Juchum
Contemporary dance prizewinner
– Mr Derrin Watters, USA
Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art
Best Swiss candidate prizewinner
– Mr Benoît Favre, Suisse
Tanz Akademie Zurich Fondation Leenaards
While the marks of the jury were being calculated, audiences enjoyed a magnificent performance by students of partner schools and etoiles from partner companies. Students from the Ecole Supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower were followed by students from the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Hamburg Ballet Principals Anna Laudere and Edvin Revazov and Royal Ballet Principal Steven McRae, a Prix de Lausanne winner from 2003.
The 2011 Prix de Lausanne was the first under the presidency of Beth Krasna and was dedicated to the Founder, Philippe Braunschweig, who died in 2010. As a tribute to his remarkable achievements, renowned choreographer and Director of the Hamburg Ballet, John Neumeier, travelled specially from Moscow to express publicly the admiration and friendship he felt for this exceptional man.
For the week of the competition, in addition to the candidates and their teachers, several key figures from the world of dance return to the Prix each year, making Lausanne unquestionably the world capital of young dancers.
The 39th Prix de Lausanne will take place from February 1st to 6th, 2011.