Seven Australians will compete in the Genée International Ballet Competition in August. They will join 62 dancers from 13 nationalities in Toronto, Canada, for a week’s intensive competition.
The Australians are:
· Samara Brender aged 15 from Killara, NSW, (teacher Jasmin Bobyk)
· Paloma Hendry-Hodsdon aged 17 from Kerrie Valley, Vic (teacher Shirley Rogers)
· Primrose Kern aged 16 from Brisbane, Qld (teacher Heidi Landford)
· Jade Marquez aged 15 from Hornsby, NSW (teacher Emma Jane Morton)
· Amber Mitchell-Knight aged 16 from Bowral, NSW (teacher Susan Sargisan. She has also been trained by Damian Smith and Claire Campbell.)
· Eliza Wenham, aged 15 from Sydney, NSW, (teacher Marie Walton Mahon)
· Mia Zanardo, aged 15 from Sylvania, NSW (teachers Hilary Kaplan and Archibald McKenzie).
They are joined by two dancers who are currently training in Australia:
· New Zealander Kimberley Mear, aged 18 (teachers Melinda Palmer and Yuiko Masukawa)
· Japanese dancer Kie Nagayama, aged 18 (teacher Barbara Eversen).
The Genee is open to Royal Academy of Dance students who have passed the Intermediate, Advanced 1, as well as Advanced 2 examinations in Classical Ballet (Advanced 2 with Distinction). Their teachers are RAD registered.
The dancers, aged 15 to 19, will take part in an intensive week of coaching from world-renowned teachers and choreographers. This year’s commissioned choreographer is Gioconda Barbuto, who will create two variations which will receive their world-premiere at the final on Thursday, August 29. Audiences at the Final will also be treated to an excerpt from William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, performed by selected artists from the National Ballet of Canada. The judging panel comprises of Karen Kain, Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada, Dame Monica Mason, former Director of the Royal Ballet, Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, and Magdalena Popa, Principal Artistic Coach of the National Ballet of Canada.
www.royalacademyofdance.org/genee2019.
Pictured are Joshua Green, who won Gold in Hong Kong in 2018 and Caitlin Garlick, who won Silver in Hong Kong in 2018. Both are trained by Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre.
Photo: Keith Sim of Hiro Graphics