The video selection took place from 26-29 October in Lausanne with a panel of nine jury members, all professionals from the dance world.
There were 380 entrants (297 girls and 83 boys) from 38 different countries. 69 candidates were selected after the video selection and nine candidates were preselected in New York (at the Youth America Grand Prix 2017), in Beijing (at the International Ballet and Choreography Competition 2017) and in Montevideo (at the official South American preselection of the Prix de Lausanne). They will take part in the 46th Lausanne competition which runs from 28 January 28 to 4 February 2018.
The country with the most candidates is Japan with 78; of these, ten got through to the ‘live' competition. South Korea and the United States both offered 54 young dancers and 19 Koreans and 5 Americans were accepted. The other ‘big' is Australia with 48 candidates; 11 have made it through to the Lausanne stage.
It is interesting to note that of the miserly four UK girls, not even one got through, and of Italy's 7 girls and 9 boys (only Turkey and China offer more boys than girls) none of the girls made it through, but three of the boys will go on to Lausanne. This repeats the pattern of last year where of the six Italian girls and seven boys, five of the boys got through but none of the girls, and none of the UK's five candidates were selected.
Italian dancer, Michele Esposito, won the competition last year.
CEO and Artistic Director of the Prix de Lausanne, Shelly Power, pointed out that this year there are also eight younger students.
The lowered age range allows for students to enter professional schools when turning 15 years old (instead of age 16) which is often the professional school entry age. Furthermore, we split the junior and senior awards which we expect will further define potential and job readiness.
We must not forget the students not selected this year and remind them that competition is only a part of a dancer's life and a career depends on the will to prevail in these moments of disappointment.
For those that have been accepted, we congratulate them and look forward to sharing in the personal and professional growth experience. Prix de Lausanne's 46th edition is filled with exceptional talents inspiring us all to reach for the stars.
As GRAMILANO is based in Italy, we underline the three Italian candidates:
Daniele Arrivabene from the La Rue de la Danse school in Settimo Torinese (Turin)
Davide Loricchio who studies at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg
Francesco Mazza from the Accademia Danza e Spettacolo in Pomigliano d'Arco (Naples)
Booking
Tickets for the Prix de Lausanne 2018 events will go on sale from 15 December 2017 at prixdelausanne.org
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.
Sorry to hear the UK dancers participation was just girls and not even at the level. Knowing the outstanding caliber of the Royal Ballet students and other relevant schools it makes you wonder what kept them out.