The 2023 Marten Bequest Ballet Scholarship goes to . . .

 

Dylan Phillips, a South Australian physical artist, has been awarded this year's Marten Bequest Ballet Scholarship.

Dylan (21) has worked as a professional acrobat with Australian contemporary circus company, Gravity & Other Myths, for four years. At 17, he was a key creator in the company's Helpmann award winning work, Out of Chaos, and has since played an integral role in the development of recent works, The Pulse, which won Best Production at the International Circus Awards. He also has his own company, Time in Space Circus. With his fellow performer, Jordan Hart, he premiered his creation, Sissy, in the Czech Republic, just last week.

Dylan has bee deemed “one of the country's strongest emerging artists” by Neil Armfield, former Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival.

The Marten Bequest Scholarships provide $50,000 to talented young artists in different categories the chance to explore, study and develop their artistic gifts through travelling either interstate and/or overseas. Dylan will accept an offer to attend a two-year full-time foundation degree at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in the UK.

Other recipients were Eliza Scott (Acting); Victor Arul (Instrumental Music); Jessie Nash (Painting); Emily Stewart (Poetry); Rafeil Ismail (Prose); and Jeremy Boulton (Singing).

John Chisholm Marten (1908) was a theatrical artist and well known for his appreciation and support of the arts community. A strong advocate for the artistic capabilities of young Australians, he understood the costs involved in study and training programs and established the Marten Bequest through a charitable trust. The scholarships are administered by the Australia Council on behalf of Perpetual as Trustee.

For more about the Marten Bequest, go here.