The finals of the Prix de Lausanne were held on Saturday 8 February at the Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux. Of the 77 candidates, 21 were selected by the jury to compete in the finals.
Congratulations to the three Australian candidates who were selected as finalists:
Sophie Beatty, The Australian Ballet School (16 years)
Jackson Smith-Leishman, Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy (15 years)
Austen McDonald, Tanya Pearson Academy (16 years)
Scroll to the bottom of this page to see photos of the Australian finalists.
Eight of the 21 finalists were selected as prize winners:
OAK FOUNDATION
Marco Masciari, Italy (17 years)
BOURSE JEUNE ESPOIR
Ava Arbuckle, United States (15 years)
ANONYMOUS DONOR
João Vitor Santana Brazil (17 years)
EMILE CHOURIET
Lin Zhang, China (17 years)
FONDATION COROMANDEL
Chaeyeon Kang, South Korea (15 years)
FONDATION ALBERT AMONT
Matei Holeleu, Romania (18 years)
FONDATION CARIS – JEUNE ESPOIR
Victor Augusto Vaz, Brazil (15 years)
CHINA NOBLENESS
Yuyan Wang, China (17 years)
Other prizes awarded included
NUREYEV FOUNDATION Best Young Talent Prize
Ava Arbuckle, United States (15 years)
MINERVA KUNSTSTIFTUNG Contemporary Dance Prize
Marco Masciari, Italy (17 years)
ANONYMOUS DONOR Best Swiss Candidate
Matei Holeleu, Romania (18 years)
WEB AUDIENCE FAVOURITE PRIZE – CO-ORGANIZED WITH ARTE CONCERT
Yuyan Wang, China (17 years)
AUDIENCE FAVOURITE PRIZE
Catarina Pires, Portugal (17 years)
Though the Australian finalists were not prize winners, the achievement of being selected as a finalist is huge and is recognised with a Finalist Award of 1000 Swiss Francs (approx. AUD$1500).
All Prix candidates also had the opportunity to participate in the Networking Forum on Sunday 9 February in order to meet with some of the representatives of the Prix de Lausanne partner schools and companies. This included all the Australian/New Zealand candidates. The outcomes of this forum are not yet public but we will keep you posted with news from the Australian candidates as it comes to hand.
Pictured top is Marco Masciari, Italy (17 years), winner of the Oak Foundation award. Photo: Gregory Batardon.
