Entries for the biennial Alana Haines Australaisan Awards are now open. This prestigious competition will be held in Wellington in New Zealand over Easter next year, April 6-10. A total prize pool of $460,000, including cash awards, international training scholarships and travel grants, is on offer.
The AHA Awards are named after an 11-year-old aspiring dancer who was killed in a car accident on Christmas Eve in 1989. A trust fund was established in her memory and the awards have been held every two years since 1991. From the inaugural event with 62 entries and $6000 in prizes, it is now a huge and highly respected competition, with more than 600 entries in 2019.
This year’s judges are Stephane Leonard, Director of Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Canada; Anita Young (MBE), former Royal Ballet School senior tutor and Northern Ballet Theatre Ballet Mistress, UK; Ty King Wall, former Principal of the Australian Ballet; and Patricia Barker, Director of Royal New Zealand Ballet.
For more info, go here.
Pictured above are previous winners Kohana Williams, who is now in the Hamburg Ballet, Germany, and Rench Soriano, now in the Washington Ballet.