http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrSeGgAC0_E&feature=player_embedded
Australian ballet student Nikolaus Tudorin is one of eight top prizewinners at this year’s Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, held over four days last weekend.
Nikolaus and his fellow prizewinners were among 21 finalists selected from 226 initial applicants from all over the world.
He was selected by a panel of illustrious adjudicators, all of whom are former prizewinners, including Darcey Bussell (former principal, Royal Ballet); Sue-Jin Kan (principal, Stuttgart Ballet); Jose Martinez (artistic director, National Dance Company of Spain) and our own Emma Sandall (co-founder of Ludwig Dance in Perth). The panel was chaired by Jean Christophe-Maillot (director, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo).
The Prix de Lausanne is open to contestants between 15 and 18 years of age. Applications are first by mail, from which a first round of dancers are chosen to come to the competition to compete. This year 79 dancers took part in the four days intensive classes, rehearsals and performances leading up to the final. Daniela Oddi (Lisa Clark Dance Centre in Canberra), Sophie Moffatt (from the Conlan College in Sydney), Joel Woellner (now at the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson Academy) and Calvin Richardson (from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School) were chosen to compete. Calvin Richardson made it into the final.
Nikolaus is presently a student at the Tanz Akademy Zurich. A Prix scholarship provides a winner with one year’s free tuition at a partner school.