Dance Australia congratulates the winners of this year’s Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Scholarship and Robert & Elizabeth Albert Scholarship. The finals took place on Sunday night at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in a revamped Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Gala Event. The main winners were:
Sydney Eisteddfod Ballet Scholarship
1st Prize – Georgia Lorange (Tambourine Mountain Dance Academy, QLD)
2nd Prize – Tahlia Szumowski (Qld College of Dance/Promenade Dance Studio, QLD)
Tanya Pearson Memorial Award – Lila McGrath (Classical Coaching Australia, QLD)
Christine Walsh’s Ballet Conservatoire Training Award – Freya Wild (Alegria Dance Studios and L'Academie, NSW)
As first prize winner Georgia received $18,000 ($3,000 cash plus a $15,000 Scholarship).
As second prize winner Tahlia received $10,000 ($2,000 cash plus and $8,000 Scholarship.
All other Senior Finalists received $1000 each and vouchers gifted by BLOCH For Dancers.
In addition, a number of professional development opportunities were awarded by the schools and/or companies connected to the adjudicators Stanton Welch OAM, Leanne Benjamin AM, OBE, Christian Tatchev, Slava Tutukin and Lynette Wills. These were Houston Ballet Academy (HBA), Queensland Ballet/Academy (QB), Australian Ballet/School (AB) and Dortmund Ballet/School (DB). They were announced as follows:
Georgia Lorange (Tambourine Mountain Dance Academy, QLD) – HBA, QB, AB
Tahlia Szumowski (Qld College of Dance/Promenade Dance Studio, QLD) – HBA, DB
Nicholas Chan (Tanya Pearson Academy, NSW) – HBA, QB, AB
Ernesto Young (Alegria Dance Studios, NSW) – HBA, QB, AB
Charlie Carberry (Dance North Academy, NSW) – QB
Pelagia Karakontis (The Dance Spot, NSW) – QB
ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BALLET SCHOLARSHIP
1st Prize – Elih Egan (Stockton's Bella Ballerinas, NSW)
2nd Prize – Oscar Taggart (Alegria Dance Studios, NSW)
As first prize winner Elih received $7000 ($1000 cash plus a $6000 Scholarship). As second prize winner Oscar received $1500.
All other junior finalists received $500 each supported by Elizabeth Albert and the late Robert Albert AO.
In addition, a number of professional development opportunities were awarded by the schools and/or companies connected to the judges. These were Houston Ballet Academy (HBA), Queensland Ballet/Academy (QB) and the Australian Ballet/School (AB). These were announced as follows
Elih Egan (Stockton's Bella Ballerinas, NSW) – HBA, AB
Oscar Taggart (Alegria Dance Studios, NSW) – HBA, AB
Leni Howlett (Kerry Moore School of Ballet, VIC) – HBA, AB
Ryan Keo (National College of Dance, NSW) – HBA, QB, AB
Scarlett Weaver (Dance North Academy, NSW) – AB, QB
Charlie Duwner (Newcastle Dance Academy, NSW) – HBA, AB
Aspen Edwards (Expressions Ballet Academy, VIC) – QB
Benjamin Groen (Papilio Atelier, Auckland, NZ) – HBA
In addition the winner of Capezio’s Most Promising Young Dancer Award for 2024 was announced as Lewis Nicholson. He received a trophy and a $1000 Capezio voucher.
– GERALDINE HIGGINSON
Look out for Geraldine Higginson's more detailed account next week.