22 candidates, from 11 countries, have been selected for the Finals of the Prix de Lausanne that will take place today, Saturday 4 February 2023 (and streamed live – links below), after a week of lessons and coaching sessions.
82 candidates from around the world have performed on the stage of the Beaulieu Theatre during the selections that took place on Friday. During the week, they rehearsed with top international dance professionals. The 10 jury members had the opportunity to observe the candidates many times before revealing their final choices. During the selections, the young dancers performed one classical and one contemporary variation.
The dancers' potential was assessed by considering their “technical facility, talent, ability to give an imaginative and sensitive response to the music and to communicating clear movements”. They had to show proficiency both in the classical repertoire as well as the contemporary pieces by Mauro Bigonzetti, Kinsun Chan, Wayne McGregor, Maurice Béjart and those of the two winners of the 2022 Young Creation Award, Milla Loock and Luca Branca.
The jury this year is presided over by Jean-Christophe Maillot – these are the 22 Finalists the jury has chosen for the Prix de Lausanne 2023:
LAZARESCU Alecsia Maria, 15, Romania
SAITO An, 15, Japan
PARK Sooha, 15, South Korea
SPROUT Emily, 16, Australia
MIYAZAKI Keisuke, 15, Japan
GYVES William, 15, United States
VIEIRA TELES Wendel, 15, Brazil
DE BENITO Millán, 15, Spain
ULLOA CORNEJO Fabrizzio, 16, Mexico
MOCKRISH Alexander, 16, Sweden
KIM Seehyun, 17, South Korea
JOYNER Julie, 17, United States
NEGRÃO Ana Luisa, 18, Brazil
TANABE Haruka, 18, Japan
KIM Soo Min, 18, South Korea
PARK Sangwon, 18, South Korea
DE PONTE Davide, 17, Italy
VENTURA Giuseppe, 18, Italy
STUCKWISCH Frederick, 18, United States
IJIMA Kanata, 18, Japan
ZANETE PÉREZ Amaury, 18, Mexico
YAN Chun Hung, 18, China (Hong-Kong)
The Finals will take place on Saturday 4 February 2.30pm at the Beaulieu Theatre. It will be live streamed on ARTE Concert and the Prix de Lausanne website. The Prize Winners will be announced around 6pm.
11 Finalists will receive a scholarship and have the unique opportunity to choose among the most prominent ballet schools and companies in the world.
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.
