Prix de Lausanne 2017 prize winners – with photos

A large audience attended the Prix de Lausanne finals both at Théâtre de Beaulieu and online. Eight young dancers have been awarded a scholarship allowing them to enter one of the 68 partner schools and companies of the competition. Promising dancers from all over the world competed to arrive in the final 20, and the names were announced yesterday.

Prix de Lausanne 2017 prize winners

410 – Michele Esposito – 17 years old – Italy

1. La Bayadère
2. Nijinsky

306 – Marina Fernandes da Costa Duarte – 17 years old – Brazil

1. Don Quixote
2. Préludes CV

415 – Taisuke Nakao – 17 years old – Japan

1. Swan Lake
2. Vaslaw

415 Taisuke Nakao PDL2017 photo gregory batardon D1A1899web

410 Michele Esposito PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

415 Taisuke Nakao PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

201 – Koyo Yamamoto – 15 years old – Japan

1. La Fille mal gardée
2. Yondering

102 – Lauren Hunter – 15 years old – United-States

1. Le Corsaire
2. Bach Suite II

423 – Stanislaw Wegrzyn – 18 years old – Poland

1. Giselle
2. Vaslaw

201 Koyo Yamamoto PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

102 Lauren Hunter PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

201 Koyo Yamamoto PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

102 Lauren Hunter PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

120 – Diana Georgia Ionescu – 16 years old – Romania

1. Paquita
2. Nocturnes

406 – Sunu Lim – 17 years old – South Korea

1. Giselle
2. Wrong Note Rag

120 Diana Georgia Ionescu PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

120 Diana Georgia Ionescu PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

406 Sunu Lim PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

406 Sunu Lim PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

Contemporary Dance Prize

410 – Michele Esposito – 17 years old – Italy

For his interpretation of Nijinsky.

Audience Favourite

306 – Marina Fernandes da Costa Duarte – 17 years old – Brazil

1. Don Quixote
2. Préludes CV

The Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Artistic Award

205 Denilson Almeida PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

205 Denilson Almeida PDL2017 photo Gregory Batardon

205 – Denilson Almeida – 16 years old – Brazil

1. Coppelia
2. Vaslaw

Best Swiss Candidate Prize

410 – Michele Esposito – 17 years old – Italy

1. La Bayadère
2. Nijinsky

During the pause while the jury reached their decision, the audience enjoyed an original creation of John Neumeier called John's dream performed by the National Youth Ballet of Germany. They also saw the Grand Pas de deux choreographed by Christian Spuck and performed by Lauren Cuthbertson, Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, and Alexander Jones, Soloist of the Ballett Zürich. Prix de Lausanne partners with both these companies.

During the week of the competition our daily live-streamed sessions have been watched more than 500,000 times by viewers online (on ARTE Concert, our website and Facebook).

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.