The 2015 Alana Haines Australasian Awards were held in Wellington New Zealand from the 2nd to the 5th April. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary, the panel for this year’s event was made up of internationally acclaimed judges including Richard Bowman (JKO ABT Ballet Master), Lisa Pavane (Director of The Australian Ballet School), Tadeuzs Matacz (Director of Stuttgart Ballet’s John Cranko Schule), Laurel Toto (Head of Junior School – Canadian National Ballet School), Christian Tatchev (Director of Training at The Queensland Ballet) and Zenia Tatcheva (Classical Coach at the Queensland Ballet).
This year the event awarded over $300,000 is cash prizes, scholarships and travel grants. The winner of the Junior Scholars section for 2015 was Sophie Smith from Anne Fraser School of Dance, Queensland ($3,000 and scholarship at The Australian Ballet School). 2nd place went to Mio Bayly of Anita Coutts School of Dance, Victoria ($1,000 and scholarship at Thames Hauraki Ballet Theater) and 3rd place went to Kieren Bofinger of Annette Roselli Dance Academy, Queensland ($500.00 and scholarship at Auckland Academy of Dance).
Finalists in the Junior Scholarship section were Milei Lee (Brian Nolan Academy of Dance), Stella Byers (Mount Eden Ballet Academy), Jadyn Bagayas (Philippa Campbell School of Ballet), Tynesha Hancock (Prudence Bowen Atelier), Monet Galea-Hewitt (Philippa Campbell School of Ballet), Matthew Maxwell (Annette Roselli Dance Academy), Heidi Freeman (KC’s School of Dance) and Alexandra Walton (Teresa Johnson Ballet School).
The Supreme Awards were divided into two categories - A Group (dancers aged 13 to 15yrs) and B Group (dancers aged 16 to 21 yrs). The winner of the A Group was Harrison Lee from The McDonald College, New South Wales ($5,000) with 2nd place going to Emily Bray from The Jane Moore Academy of Ballet, Victoria ($2,000 and scholarship to The Australian Ballet School). 3rd place was awarded to Bianca Scudamore from Janine McGrath Classical Coaching Australia, Queensland ($500 and scholarship to the National Ballet School of Canada). The winner of the B Group was Vida Polakov from Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching, Sydney ($5,000 and scholarship to American Ballet Theatre Summer School). 2nd place went to Tirion Law Lok Huen a New Zealand School of Dance international student from Hong Kong ($2,000) with 3rd place going to Wan Jia Jing also a New Zealand School of Dance international student from China ($500). Finalists in the Group A and Group B section were Madison Ayton (Annette Roselli Dance Academy), Talia Fidra (Janine McGrath Classical Coaching), Makensie Henson (Prudence Bowen Atelier), Isabella Howard (Janine McGrath Classical Coaching Australia) and Felipe Domingos Natel a New Zealand School of Dance international student.
The audience choice awards went to Sophie Smith (Anne Fraser School of Dance), Harrison Lee (The McDonald College) and Mikaela Johnson (The Conlan College of Classical Ballet)
- Michelle Dursun
Below: Group B winner, Vida Polakov. Photo: Amber Griffin Photography.
