Jewels in the crown
Competitions are a valuable experience in themselves. For Lania Atkins, they provided a huge leap to a professional career.
With over 25,000 entrants each year, who perform to an audience of more than 170,000 people, the annual Sydney Eisteddfod plays a vital role in Australia’s arts community. For young dancers, its huge dance section offers many opportunities for contestants of all ages. For ballet dancer Lania Atkins, it played a big part in her career.
Atkins trained at the Dance Spot in Sydney and was also chosen for the Australian Ballet School’s Interstate Program. She entered the Robert and Elizabeth Junior Ballet Scholarship, one of the more prestigious prizes at the Sydney Eisteddfod, in 2015.
With her prize money of $7000 she was able to travel to the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, where she made it to the semi-finals, and was offered a spot at the Dutch National Ballet Academy. The same year she won the Silver Medal at the Genée International Ballet Competition in London.
Back at home, she entered the Sydney Eisteddfod again, this time the senior Ballet Scholarship, the jewel in the crown, and won.
“This was a great deal for me as I knew that my hard work and passion for dance was being noticed and this really encouraged me to continue what I aspired to be,” she says now. It also enabled her to continue her two years of training in the Netherlands, contributing to flights and accommodation.
Atkins also received the Molly Atkins Ballet Scholarship, a bequest, in 2019.
She is now in the Norwegian National Ballet, where she recently performed the role of Gamzatti in La Bayadere, for which she was described by one critic as “a jewel in the beautiful Norwegian crown that is this company”.
Read more examples of the way competitions have boosted careers in 'From Comps to Jobs' in the current July/Aug/Sep issue of 'Dance Australia'. Buy from your favourite dance retailer or on line here or here.