Huge number of Australians at Genee
Excitement is building for this year’s Royal Academy of Dance Genee International Ballet Competition, which takes place this year in Hong Kong from August 3 to 12. Of the 50 chosen candidates, 20 are Australian - the largest number of dancers from a single country.
The lucky Australians are:
ROMY ADAIR (Australian/British)
Age: 18
School: Ballet West (Scotland)
Trained by: Jonathan Barton
Romy began ballet training in Newcastle, Australia with Marie Walton and then later in Sydney with Valerie Jenkins, before moving to the UK to join the renowned Ballet West Scotland.
MEREDITH BERENDS
Age: 17
School: Ballet Theatre Australia
Trained by: Nice Lee
I started ballet at five with Tasmania Academy of Dance and won the Joan Burnett RAD award at 11. At 13, I began full-time training at Ballet Theatre Australia in Melbourne.
ZOE BRADY
Age: 16
School: Annette Roselli Dance Academy (Brisbane)
Trained by: Annette Roselli
Zoe started training at Annette Roselli Dance Academy in 2016 and will commence at English National Ballet School this September.
LILY CARBONE
Age: 15
School: Classical Coaching Australia (Brisbane)
Trained by: Juanita Moore
Lily has also been a part of The Australian Ballet School Interstate Training Program and has attended the Royal Ballet School Summer School twice on scholarship as well as a short term visit to the Dutch National Ballet Academy.
ABIGAIL DREW
Age: 18
School: Ballet West
Trained by: Jonathan Barton
I began my dance training in a small school in South Australia, and then gained a place at Ballet West, in the Scottish Highlands.
CAITLIN GARLICK
Age: 15
School: Karen Ireland Dance Centre (Lismore, NSW)
Trained by: Karen Ireland
JOSHUA GREEN
Age: 17
School: Karen Ireland Dance Centre
Trained by: Karen Ireland
In April 2018, he travelled to New York and was selected as a top 20 dancer at the Youth America Grand Prix finals. He also received a scholarship to the John Cranko Schule. After completing The Genée, he will stay in Hong Kong as one of the selected finalists of the Asian Grand Prix.
KENDALL HARRIS
Age: 16
School: The Conlan College (Sydney)
Trained by: Emma-Jane Morton
Some achievements include receiving a distinction in all my RAD ballet exams,
being an ITP student with the Australian Ballet School and having had the opportunity of performing with The Australian Ballet Company,and attending The Royal Ballet School’s Spring Intensive.
JESSICA HO
Age: 19
School: Annette Roselli Dance Academy
Trained by: Annette Roselli
Born in Australia, Jessica initially studied all styles of dance from the early age of three. However, when she moved to Annette Roselli’s Dance Academy, she quickly discovered that her true passion is ballet and contemporary dance.
CLAIRE LECUONA
Age: 19
School: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Trained by: Diana de Vos
Studying towards an Elite Diploma of Dance at (WAAPA)at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.
DOMINIE LYTHGOE
Age: 15
School: Classical Coaching Australia
Trained by: Janine Mcgrath
Dominie has had the privilege of attending the Prix de Lausanne in 2018 as one of the inaugural younger participants at just 14 years old. Dominie has been a student of the ITP / Invitee programme at The Australian Ballet School since 2011.
EMMA MACKIE
Age: 16
School: Premier Dance Academy (Brisbane)
Trained by: Tania Whelan
Emma trained under Prudence Bowen Atelier and most recently Premier Dance Academy, Emma has achieved outstanding results for her RAD examinations including Distinction for Advanced 2 exam. In 2017 Emma was offered a place at both the Joffrey Ballet School Summer program and full-time Traineeship Program.
BEATRICE MANSER
Age: 19
School: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Trained by: Diana de Vos
Beatrice is from Perth and I was raised in Bali, Indonesia.
HUGO POULET
Age: 16
School: Alegria Dance Studios (Sydney)
Trained by: Hilary Kaplan
Hugo Poulet began ballet in 2014 at Alegria Dance Studio, becoming a full time student in 2017. He has been selected to represent NSW in the Lucie Saranova Medal later this year.
GABRIEL ROGERS
Age:17
School: Australian Dance Performance Institute (Brisbane)
Trained by: Barbara Eversen
Gabriel started dancing at age 11. He hopes to continue his studies in Germany from September, 2018.
PENELOPE ROJAS-ANTONUCCIO
(Italian/Australian)
Age: 17
School: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Trained by: Diana de Vos
Penelope has completed all RAD examinations up to Advanced 2 and has received Distinction.
PORTIA SECKER
Age: 17
School: Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Trained by: Diana de Vos
Portia commenced RAD training when she was nine and hoped to complete my Solo Seal Award this year.
SHONTAYA SMEDLEY
Age: 16
School: Classical Ballet 121 with Gillian Revie (Sydney)
Trained by: Teresa Johnson
Shontaya trained in all styles of dance from the age of three and has received high distinctions in all RAD exams.
LAUREN SOWTER
Age: 16
School: Ann Roberts School of Dance (Townsville, Qld)
Trained by: Jane Pirani
LUCINDA WORTHING-SHORE
Age: 15
School: Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching (Sydney)
Trained by: Marie Walton Mahon
Among Lucinda’s recent achievements are a YAGP scholarship to the
Royal Ballet school and a 2017 Royal Ballet school achievement award winner from the white lodge summer school.
Below are students who are currently training in Australia, but of different nationality:
CHLOE JACKSON (British)
School: Atelier Australia (Gold Coast, Qld)
Trained by: Heidi Landford
Ballet training first started in Australia at the age of 3, then Elmhurst School of Dance, Royal Ballet School and Tring Park for the Performing Arts in the UK. Now at Atelier Australia.
ENOKA SATO
(Japanese)
Age: 16
School: Annette Roselli Dance Academy
Trained by: Annette Roselli
Enoka Sato trained in Japan. In 2017 Enoka moved to Australia and attended Annette Roselli Dance Academy. Enoka achieved Top 12 Ensemble at YAGP finals, New York, in 2014.
She won 4th place at Fukuoka Youth Ballet Competition and was selected for the finals of Brisbane Performing Arts Challenge in 2017.
Australia has 841 RAD registered teachers and over 23,000 exam entries per year.
For more information about the Genee, go here.
Keep your eyes on the Dance Australia facebook page and website for the results!
Pictured above is Matthew Maxwell, the joint 2017 Genee silver medallist.