Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Sharp Short Dance Festival!
Presented by Form Dance Projects, this annual event aims to encourage youth participation in all genres of dance, and provides a platform for young dancers and choreographers to develop their choreographic and performance skills, meet like-minded artists, and network with peers and industry experts.
The 2019 event saw 46 works presented, featuring 139 dancers and 60 choreographers. 17 works were selected as finalists.
The 2019 Sharp Short Dance award winners are:
- Best Young Choreographer – Hannah Potts (Neglect)
- Outstanding Female Dancer – Amari Leiva Urzua (Camelando)
- Outstanding Male Dancer – Kai Taylor (Resilience)
- Outstanding Solo Performance – Olivia Hadley (Uprooted)
- Outstanding Duet Performance – Paul and Frank Barbara (Identically Different)
- Outstanding Ensemble Performance – Choreographer Lukah Eveleigh and performers Maeve Smith, Lukah Eveleigh, Meghann Burton, Kasey Brown, Monique Sullivan and Billie-Ann Austin (4:18)
- Audience Choice Award – Choreographer Brittney Webb and performers Kayla Richards, Caeley Richards, Amelia Tu, Isabella Soria, Samya Kerde, Katherine Vu, Jade Do, Amelie Pritchard, Mia Pritchard and Trinity Brooke (Disquietude)
- Sydney Dance Company, Pre-Professional Year Secondment – Saskia Ellis (Innervation) and Abigail Gasson (Claustrophobia)
- Catapult Dance Secondment – Isaac Clark (Long Black Two) and Olivia Hadley (Uprooted)
- Dance Makers Collective Secondment – Mahlia King (Meow)
- Stalker Theatre Secondment – Reina Takeuchi (Concrete Plastic Play)
- Seet Dance Intensive Sponsorship – Opal Russell (Riffle of Rhapsody)
- Teacher’s Recognition Award – Rebekah Edge (Wiley Park Girls High School)
The winners were selected by a judging panel that included Tara Robertson (former Bangarra Dance Theatre dancer), Omer Backley-Astrachan (choreographer and Sydney Dance Company Pre-Professional Year Course Coordinator), David Clarkson (Stalker Theatre Artistic Director), Claire Gammon (Manager of Artistic Strategy at Sydney Opera House), Cadi McCarthy (Catapult Dance Artistic Director), and Jane McKernan (Fondue Set co-founder and former lecturer at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK).
Pictured top: Outstanding Female Dancer. Photo: Dom O'Donnell.
