The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...

, and many former prize winners of the competition are now leading stars with major ballet companies around the world. The competition is managed by a non-profit foundation organised by the ''Fondation en faveur de l'Art chorégraphique'' and is maintained by various sponsors, patrons and donors.

History

Prix de Lausanne was founded in 1973 by the Swiss industrialist Philippe Braunschweig and his wife Elvire. Philippe, although not a dancer, became interested in dance as a young man. His Russian dancer wife developed his interest further. The Braunschweigs created the competition after noticing the lack of financial support to young dance students, particularly those from small regional schools, wishing to attend professional level programs. He started by approaching Rosella Hightower and Maurice Béjart who drew up the rules for the competition. Philippe Braunschweig and Maurice Béjart (1988) by Erling Mandelmann

Philippe Braunschweig and Maurice Béjart (1988) by Erling Mandelmann

What started as small event has grown into an internationally acclaimed institution that draws candidates from all over the world. Over the past few years the competition has seen a big boom in Asian candidates. Because of the great demand by Japanese students to study abroad, an office was also set up in Japan. The Braunschweigs announced their resignation at the end of the Prix in 1996. In March 1997, as the competition came to its 25th anniversary, the philanthropists handed over the Prix's direction to an executive committee composed of the Swiss Secretary of State, Franz Blankart and an artistic committee headed by Jan Nuyts, who worked with the Prix for many years. Mr Charles Gebhard is in charge of finances and Ms Patricia Leroy heads the actual organization. The Braunschweigs remain available as consultants and have managed to maintain the original mission of the competition.

Entry

Entry is reserved for young student-dancers, aged 15 through 18, who have not yet been in professional employment and open to candidates of all nationalities. Currently, participants are required to submit a 15–20 min digital file recording showing them performing a combination of barre and centre-work exercises in a studio environment and pay a non-refundable registration fee of CHF 120. Those candidates selected to participate in the competition pay a second fee of CHF 120. Around 80 candidates from 30 or so countries compete each year, in the hope of being selected for the final, reserved for the best 20 among them. The final of the competition is broadcast live on television. As from 2007 the Prix de Lausanne is part of an exchange program with the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, which allows dancers from each competition to benefit from the

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

opportunities available at both. Thanks to a mutual agreement, finalists who have not received a scholarship at one of the competitions will be eligible to participate in the other without having to pass the selective rounds. By combining their scholarship-giving capacities, these two of the most important dance competitions in the world help create a wider network of opportunity for young dancers worldwide.

Location

The Prix is held annually over a one-week period in January, usually at the

Théâtre de Beaulieu Palais de Beaulieu is the historical and emblematic building of the Lausanne convention and exhibition center, located in Lausanne, in the Vaud Canton, Switzerland. The Palais is a convention centre that welcomes mainly conventions and even ...

. The dimensions of the stage of the Théâtre de Beaulieu are: wide × deep with a 3.6%

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

. Occasionally the organization has arranged for the finals to be held in other locations: New York City in 1985, Tokyo in 1989, and Moscow in 1995, in order to accommodate the participants. During the competition, the theatre has its foyers and conference halls converted into dance studios and observation areas. The backstage area houses offices, an infirmary, and a shop that sells dance clothes, books, and videos.

The Competition

The aim of the Prix de Lausanne is to facilitate the young competition prize-winners to embark upon a professional career by providing them with an opportunity to spend a year improving their skills at one of the Prix's partnering schools or to benefit from a year's apprentice scholarship with one of the international professional dance companies partnering the Prix. Only one scholarship is available from each partner organization so decisions as to which winner is offered a place are based on their ranking. Although on occasion, they agree to accept more than one laureate.

The jury

The jury is composed of nine people. Each member of the jury must either have a link with one of the Prix's partner ballet schools or companies or be an ex-winner. The panel is chosen as to fulfill a wide geographical representation and mix of youth and experience. The members of the jury were: ; 2007 * President of the jury: Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux - Artistic Director of the North Carolina Dance Theatre, USA :Ramona de Saa – Director of the

Cuban National Ballet School The Cuban National Ballet School ''(Escuela Nacional Cubana de Ballet)'' in Havana, with approximately 3,000 students is the biggest ballet school in the world and the most prestigious ballet school in Cuba. It is directed by Ramona de Sáa. His ...

, La Habana, Cuba :

Aki Saito Aki or AKI may refer to: Places in Japan *Aki District, Hiroshima, a district in Hiroshima Prefecture * Aki, Kōchi, a city in Kochi Prefecture *Aki District, Kōchi, a district in Kochi Prefecture *Aki, Ōita, a town in Ōita Prefecture *Aki Prov ...

– Principal of the

Royal Ballet of Flanders The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally. History The ...

, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1991) :Cathy Sharp – Director of the Cathy Sharp Dance Ensemble,

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

, Switzerland :Irina Sitnikova – Professor at the Vaganova Academy, Saint Petersburg, Russia :Monica Zamora – Former Principal of the

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

, England, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1989) :Wim Broeckx – Director of the Royal Conservatory, The Hague, Netherlands, Prix de Lausanne finalist (1980) ; 2009 * President of the jury: Karen Kain – Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada, Toronto :Amanda Bennett – Director of the Ballettschule Theater,

, Switzerland :Marianne Krusse – Educational Director and teacher at the School of The Hamburg Ballet, Germany :

Francia Russell Francia Russell (born January 10, 1938) is the former co-artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and former director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School, from 1977 to 2005. She was a soloist with the New York City Ballet, where she later b ...

– Founding Artistic Director of the

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

, USA, Freelance Balanchine teacher and stager :

Miyako Yoshida Miyako Yoshida (吉田都, born 28 October 1965) is a Japanese ballet dancer. She was a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet as well as a principal dancer with K-ballet, Japan. Life and career Born and trained in Tokyo, Yoshida won the ...

– Guest Principal of the Royal Ballet, London and K-Ballet Company, Japan, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1983) : David McAllister – Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, Australia : Patrick Armand – Associate Director of San Francisco Ballet School and Director of San Francisco Ballet School's Trainee Program, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1980) :Ted Brandsen – Artistic Director and resident choreographer, Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam :

Bruce Sansom Bruce Edward Sansom (born September 1963) is a British former ballet dancer, and assistant artistic director and ballet master at San Francisco Ballet. Bruce Sansom was born in September 1963 in Newbury, trained at the Royal Ballet School, and jo ...

– Director of the

Central School of Ballet Central School of Ballet is a classical ballet school based in London, with students from countries all over the world. The school was established in 1982 by Ann Stannard and Christopher Gable. It established a touring company, ''Ballet Centra ...

, London, England ; 2014 *President of the jury: Kay Mazzo – Co-Chairman of the School of American Ballet, New York : Kathryn Bennetts – Artistic Director of the

, Antwerp, Belgium : Alessandra Ferri – Former Principal of the American Ballet Theatre, Director of Dance Programming at the Spoleto Festival, Italy, Prix de Lausanne prize winner (1980) :Gigi Hyatt – Pedagogical Principal and Deputy Director, of the School of the Hamburg Ballet, Germany : Marilyn Rowe – Director of the

Australian Ballet School The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scot ...

, Melbourne, Australia : Julio Bocca – Former Principal of the American Ballet Theatre, Director of The Sodre National Ballet,

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

, Uruguay :Pedro Carneiro – Director of The National Conservatory Dance School, Lisbon, Portugal :Xu Gang – General Repetitor and Ballet Master at the National Ballet of China, Beijing :Christopher Powney – Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet School, London, England ; 2016 *President of the jury: Julio Bocca - Former Principal of the American Ballet Theatre, Director of the Sodre National Ballet,

, Uruguay :Jan Broeckx – Director of The Ballet Academy, Munich, Germany, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1979) :

Lucinda Dunn Lucinda Dunn (born 10 December 1973) is an Australian retired ballerina and current principle teacher at the Tanya Pearson Academy. Dunn was trained initially at Tanya Pearson Academy, before proceeding to train at the Royal Ballet School in Lon ...

– former Principal of the Australian Ballet, Artistic director of Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1989) : Viviana Durante – Former Principal of the Royal Ballet, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1984) : Marcelo Gomes – Principal of the American Ballet Theatre, Prix de Lausanne prizewinner (1996) :

Élisabeth Platel Élisabeth Platel (born 10 April 1959) is a French prima ballerina. Career After studying at the conservatoire in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, she entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1971, graduating with First Prize, which allowed her to complete ...

- Former Principal of the Paris Opera Ballet, Director of the Paris Opera Ballet School, France

Evaluation

The jury evaluates candidates throughout the competition considering their level of: *Artistry *Physical suitability *Courage and individuality *An imaginative and sensitive response to the music *A clear grasp in communicating differing movement dynamics *Technical facility, control, and coordination.

Stages

After the video selection, participants go through the second phase of selection rounds, which consists of the competition in Lausanne. During the week in Lausanne, candidates are judged both during a dance class and individually on stage. The Prix de Lausanne also organises preselections in Argentina and in Dresden. The four winners from each preselections are invited to participate to the competition in Lausanne. The Prix de Lausanne covers both travel and accommodation expenses. Twenty candidates reach the finals and between 6 and 8 receive a scholarship. The Prix de Lausanne organises the winners' transfer to one of its partner schools or companies and monitors their development during the grant year (settling in, health, education, career prospects, etc.) Candidates who are not selected for the finals can participate in the Networking Forum, which gives them an opportunity to be seen by schools and company directors from around the world. Following an audition class, interviews are organised with directors of Prix de Lausanne partner schools and companies wishing to recruit one or more candidates. Interviews with finalists who do not receive a prize are also arranged after the award ceremony. The competition is opened to the public. Tickets are available in advance. The selections take place on Friday, Classical and contemporary variations on stage with jury in the morning and in the afternoon. The finals are taking place on Saturday at 3pm at the Beaulieu Theatre. From Tuesday to Thursday, public and free conferences are held by key personalities of the dance world. The next Prix de Lausanne will take place from February 3rd to February 10th, 2019.

Prizes

*''Prix de Lausanne'' Scholarship - a scholarship of one year's free tuition and the sum of CHF 16,000 in ten monthly installments for living expenses during the prize winner's year of studies. *''Prix de Lausanne'' Apprentice Scholarship - consists of a one-year apprentice scholarship for awardees over 17 and the sum of CHF 16,000 in ten monthly installments for living expenses. *Contemporary Dance Prize - consists of contemporary dance course at one of the partnering institutions and covers both travel and living expenses. *Best Swiss Candidate Prize - consists of a cash price of CHF 2,500 awarded to the best finalist residing in Switzerland and having trained in Switzerland for at least 3 years before the competition. All finalists are offered free summer courses (travel and accommodation costs not covered) and receive a diploma and a medal. Finalists not winning a prize receive a consolation cash prize of CHF 1,000.

Winners

Since 1973

* 1973 : Michel Gascard, former Soloist with Béjart Ballet, currently co-director of Rudra Béjart Studio-School. * 1975 : Philippe Talard, French dancer and choreographer. * 1976 : Jana Kurova, Czech ballerina and choreographer. * 1976 : Ben Van Cauwenbergh, Belgian, currently director of the Aalto Ballet Essen and choreographer. * 1977 : Jean-Christophe Maillot, choreographer and company director of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Paola Cantalupo, Étoile with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and former principal dancer with National Ballet of Portugal * 1980 : Nancy Raffa, retired Principal with Ballet de Santiago, Ballet National Francaise, then Miami City Ballet * 1982 : Delphine Collerie de Borely * 1983 :

, retired Principal with The Royal Ballet * 1984 : Viviana Durante, former Principal with The Royal Ballet * 1985 : Edward Stierle, former leading dancer with the Joffrey Ballet * 1986 : Darcey Bussell, retired principal of The Royal Ballet, Julie Kent, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Kaori Nakamura, former principal dancer with

and Royal Winnipeg Ballet * 1987 : Yilei Cai, former Principal with the Scottish Ballet. * 1988 : Lisa-Maree Cullum, retired principal with

Staatsballett Berlin The Berlin State Ballet (german: Staatsballett Berlin, links=no, italic=no) is the principal ballet company in the German capital of Berlin. It was created in 2004 through a merger of the separate ballet companies of the city's three opera house ...

, Bayerisches Staatsballett and now Associate Artistic Director at the BMICA Academy in Munich, Germany. * 1989 :

Tetsuya Kumakawa is a Japanese ballet dancer and a former principal dancer with the Royal Ballet. Early life Tetsuya Kumakawa was born on 5 March 1972 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. He began studying Ballet at 10 years old; aged 15, he moved to the UK and traine ...

, ex-principal with The Royal Ballet and artistic director of

K-Ballet K-ballet is a Japanese ballet company. The company started in 1999 and has since held approximately 50 annual performances. K-Ballet's activity was first recognised internationally in July 2004, when the ballet group was invited to New York's Metr ...

in Tokyo, Japan, and Monica Zamora, retired principal of the

* 1990 :

Carlos Acosta Carlos Yunior Acosta Quesada (born 2 June 1973) is a Cuban-British ballet director and retired dancer who is director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cu ...

, retired Principal with The Royal Ballet, now Director of the

* 1991 : Aki Saito, principal with the

, David Dawson, choreographer, and Christopher Wheeldon, choreographer and artistic director of Morphoses/ The Wheeldon Company * 1992 :

Laetitia Pujol Laetitia Pujol (born 8 October 1975) is a French ballet dancer. She joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 1993, becoming a principal in 2000 and a star (étoile) in 2002. Early life Born in Toulouse, she started to dance ballet when she was eight but ...

, later étoile with the

Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

Jiří Bubeníček Jiří (; ''YI-RZHEE''), the Czech is a masculine given name, equivalent to English George, may refer to: Given name B * Jiří Antonín Benda * Jiří Baborovský *Jiří Barta * Jiří Bartoška * Jiří Bicek * Jiří Bobok *Jiří Bubla * Ji ...

, choreographer, principal dancer with Dresden Semperoper Ballett and former principal dancer with Hamburg Ballet * 1994 : Diana Vishneva, principal with Kirov Ballet and Guest Principal Artist with American Ballet Theatre, Benjamin Millepied, choreographer and principal dancer with

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company ...

* 1995 : Gonzalo Garcia, principal with New York City Ballet: youngest-ever recipient of Gold Medal, Gillian Murphy, principal with American Ballet Theatre, Le Yin, former principal dancer with

, Natalia Sologub, principal with Dresden Semperoper Ballett * 1996 : Marcelo Gomes, former principal with American Ballet Theatre,

Ivan Putrov Ivan Oleksandrovych Putrov ( uk, Іван Олександрович Путров; born 8 March 1980) is a Ukrainian-born ballet dancer and producer. He trained at The Kyiv State Choreographic Institute and at The Royal Ballet School. Upon graduat ...

, former principal with The Royal Ballet, Shoko Nakamura, principal with

Berlin Staatsoper The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great fro ...

* 1997 :

Alina Cojocaru Alina Cojocaru (born 27 May 1981) is a Romanian ballet dancer. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet and a lead principal with the English National Ballet. Early years Alina Cojocaru was born and raised in Bucharest, Roman ...

, formerly Principal with The Royal Ballet,

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scot ...

, now guest principal with Hamburg Ballet * 1998 : Ekaterina Menchikh, ballerina with the Zurich Opera (Ballet Company of Heinz Spoerli) * 2000 : Yao Wei, principal with the Royal Danish Ballet, Yuriko Kajiya, soloist with American Ballet Theatre * 2001 : Misa Kuranaga, principal with

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

, Jaime Garcia Castilla, principal with

, and Ludovic Ondiviela, first artist with The Royal Ballet * 2001 : Natalia de Froberville (Domratcheva), principal with Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre and former principal with Kiev Ballet, National Opera of Ukraine * 2002 :

Maria Kochetkova Maria Olegovna Kochetkova (russian: Мария Олеговна Кочеткова; born 1984) is a Russian ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet between 2007 and 2018, and with the American Ballet Theatre betw ...

, principal with the

and

Yuhui Choe Yuhui Choe ( ko, 최유희,崔有熙) is a Korean ballet dancer. She is a first soloist at The Royal Ballet. Early life Choe was born in Fukuoka, Japan. Choe started ballet training at the age of five. At the age of 14, Choe left her family an ...

, first soloist with The Royal Ballet * 2003 :

Steven McRae Steven McRae (born 19 December 1985) is an Australian ballet dancer and tap dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, London.

, principal with The Royal Ballet and Hee Seo, principal with American Ballet Theatre * 2004 : Alex Wong, former principal soloist with the Miami City Ballet * 2005 : Jin Young Won * 2005 : Yujin Kim, principal with Alonzo King Lines Ballet * 2006 : Sergei Polunin, formerly principal dancer with The Royal Ballet * 2007 :

Sae Eun Park Sae Eun Park(Korean: 박세은, Bak Se Eun) (born December 1989) is a South Korean ballet dancer. Following stints at ABT II and Korea National Ballet in her early career, she joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011. She is the company's first Ko ...

, étoile with the Paris Opera Ballet * 2008 : Aleix Martinez, soloist with the Hamburg Ballet * 2009 : Hannah O'Neill, première danseuse with the Paris Opera Ballet * 2010 : Cristian Emanuel Amuchastegui, corps de ballet with the Hamburg Ballet * 2011 : Mayara Magri, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet * 2012 : Madoka Sugai, principal dancer Hamburg Ballet * 2013 : Adhonay Silva, principal dancer with the Stuttgart Ballet * 2014 : Haruo Niyama * 2015 : Harrison Lee, dancer in the Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Program at The Royal Ballet * 2016 : Yu Hang, dancer in the Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Program at The Royal Ballet * 2017 : Michele Esposito, élève with the Dutch National Ballet * 2018 : Shale Wagman, first year artist with the

* 2019 : Mackenzie Brown, corps de ballet with Stuttgart Ballet * 2020 : Marco Masciari * 2021 : António Casalinho * 2022 : Darrion Sellman

References

External links

Official Website

Facebook Page of The Prix de Lausanne

Information on the city of Lausanne
{{Authority control Ballet awards Lausanne 1973 establishments in Switzerland Awards established in 1973 Recurring events established in 1973