Young Brisbane dancer Nobel Lakaev is in his first semester at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York. After a gruelling audition process, described by Nobel as “the most stressful 11 hours of my life”, he was the only international student selected from a pool of 600 dancers.
It’s a huge achievement for the young Australian dancer, but makes it particularly remarkable is that Nobel began dancing as a three-year old to help ease the pain of a disease called atypical mycobacteria. Believing that dance would strengthen his body and aid in his recovery, Nobel’s mother encouraged him to take up dance. Nobel never looked back.
Having trained with Shannon Atkins, Prudence Bowen and Sonja Middelbosch, Nobel has performed with Raw Dance Company and Zealous Choreography. He has also appeared on TV on Australia’s Got Talent and on Everybody Dance Now.
According to Nobel, the audition process for Juillard was very challenging. “Everything from ballet and contemporary technique to solo performances and repertoire was assessed,” he says. Dancers were cut heavily after each round so that by the end of the day Nobel was one of only three dancers left who were given interviews. When he arrived back in Australia, he received the call from New York congratulating him on being one of the 26 dancers accepted by the school.
Nobel is relishing his first semester at the Julliard School, living on campus in midtown Manhattan. He describes the talent at the school saying, “It’s absolutely unbelievable – like nowhere else in the world and I am loving every single minute of it”.
Of his childhood illness, Nobel states that he no longer has any problems and credits dance for both strengthening his body and giving him “something to live for”.
Nobel Lakaev
