The Joan Burnett Scholarship is held each year in Tasmania by the Royal Academy of Dance Victorian Regional Panel. It is named after local teacher Joan Burnett OAM, who moved to Australia and eventually Tasmania from England, where she has taught for more than 40 years.
At this year’s event, held at Ballet and Dance Arts in Invermay on October 27, the Overall Winner was Ramita Coldrey (a pupil at House of Dance). She received a scholarship to the value of $1000 to attend the RAD Victorian Autumn School in Melbourne in 2020. The scholarship winner is selected from Intermediate Foundation OR Intermediate levels.
Prizes were awarded in each section and were as follows:
ADVANCED
BLOCH Advanced Award: Sarah Radford (Industrie Performing Arts)
BLOCH Runner-Up: Amelia Reynolds (Ballet & Dance Arts Tasmania)
First Place: Amelia Reynolds (Ballet & Dance Arts Tasmania)
Artistry: Sarah Radford (Industrie Performing Arts)
Runner-up: Lia Eacher (Ballet & Dance Arts Tasmania)
Encouragement Hana McCarthy (House of Dance)
INTERMEDIATE FOUNDATION
First Place: Ramita Coldrey (House of Dance)
Artistry: Dakota Van De Elzen (Caroline Small School of Dance)
Runner-up: Samantha Grimsey (House of Dance)
Encouragement: Indra Gurudoss (Dance Pointe Academy)
Honourable Mention: Ava Cleary (House of Dance)
Honourable Mention: Alexandra Keddie (Caroline Small School of Dance)
INTERMEDIATE
First Place: Sarah Gilmour (House of Dance)
Artistry: Jana Nicol (Industrie Performing Arts)
Runner-up: Liliana Langham (Dance Pointe Academy)
Encouragement: Zoey Casson-Medhurst (Industrie Performing Arts)
Honourable Mention: Amelia Millington (House of Dance)
The scholarship classes were taught by Susan Sargison, associate artistic director at the National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne. Additional masterclasses were held with Australian Ballet principal artist Adam Bull.