20 Prix de Lausanne finalists announced: Japan, Brazil, Italy and South Korea top the leader board

After four days of intensive classes, 20 candidates have qualified for the finals of the Prix de Lausanne competition.

66 candidates from all over the world have attended daily classes, coaching, and rehearsals with some of the top names in ballet. Their potential was not only assessed by considering their technical ability, but also their capacity to suply an imaginative and sensitive response to the music.

The candidates have had to master the traditional classical repertoire as well as the contemporary creations of John Neumeier, the main guest choreographer for the 45th edition of the competition.

Director of the Royal Ballet, Kevin O'Hare, who is president of the jury, and his eight fellow members, picked the 20 young dancers who will participate in Saturday's final (Saturday 4 February 2017 from 2.30pm). The competition will be broadcast live on the official website and on Arte Concert. The results will be announced around 7pm.

The finalists are from 9 different countries: the most represented are Japan with 4 candidates; Brazil, Italy and South Korea with each 3 candidates.

The 20 finalists of the Prix de Lausanne 2017 are:

102. Lauren Hunter / USA / 15 years old
103. Yuika Fujimoto / Japan / 15 years old
104. Jessi Seymour / Australia / 15 years old
105. Sunmin Lee / South Korea / 16 years old
106. Rafaela Henrique / Brazil / 16 years old
107. Diana Giorgia Ionescu / Romania / 16 years old
108. Koyo Yamamoto / Japan / 15 years old
109. Edoardo Sartori / Italy / 16 years old
110. Denilson Almeida / Brazil / 16 years old
111. Joshua Jack Price / Australia / 16 years old
112. Jingkun Xu / China / 16 years old
113. Alessandro Frola / Italy / 16 years old
114. Ji Min Kwon / South Korea / 17 years old
115. Marina Fernandes da Costa Duarte / Brazil / 17 years old
116. Fang qi Li / China / 18 years old
117. Sunu Lim / South Korea / 17 years old
118. Michele Esposito / Italy / 17 years old
119. Taisuke Nakao / Japan / 17 years old
120. Riku Ota / Japan / 18 years old
121. Stanislaw Wegrzyn / Poland / 18 years old

Eight of the finalists will receive one of the scholarships/apprenticeships, for which the Prix de Lausanne is so well-known for. The prize winners receive the unique opportunity to choose among the most prominent schools and companies that they would like to attend.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.