Record Number of Aussies Selected for The Genée
Hong Kong, August 3 -12 | Watch Finals Live via Facebook!
The Royal Academy of Dance‘s annual Genée International Ballet Competition – known simply as The Genée – will be held this year in Hong Kong in August. It was also held in Hong Kong in 2006.
This year, 50 dancers representing 13 countries have been invited to compete in Hong Kong, including 20 Australian dancers – the largest from a single country!
The 20 Australian dancers selected are: Romy Adair, 18 (Ballet West Scotland), Meredith Berends, 17 (Ballet Theatre Australia), Zoe Brady, 16 (Annette Roselli Dance Academy), Lily Carbone, 15 (Classical Coaching Australia), Abigail Drew, 18 (Ballet West), Caitlin Garlick, 15 (Karen Ireland Dance Centre), Joshua Green, 17 (Karen Ireland Dance Centre), Kendall Harris, 16 (The Conlan College), Jessica Ho, 19 (Annette Roselli Dance Academy), Claire Lecuona, 19 9Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), Dominie Lythgoe, 15 (Classical Coaching Australia), Emma Mackie, 16 (Premier Dance Academy), Beatrice Manser, 19 (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), Hugo Poulet, 16 (Alegria Dance Studios), Gabriel Rogers, 17 (Australian Dance Performance Institute), Penelope Rojas-Antonuccio, 17 (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), Portia Secker, 17 (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), Shontaya Smedley, 16 (Classical Ballet 121 with Gillian Revie), Lauren Sowter, 16 (Ann Roberts School of Dance) and Lucinda Worthington-Shore, 15 (Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching). British dancer Chloe Jackson, 16 (Atelier Australia) and Japan’s Enoka Sato, 16 (Annette Roselli Dance Academy) both of whom are currently training in Australia, will also compete.
This year’s judges are Septime Webre (Artistic Director, Hong Kong Ballet), Madame Zhao Ru Heng (Artistic Director Dance, National Centre for Performing Arts in China), Janek Schergen (Artistic Director, Singapore Dance Theatre) and our own Lisa Pavane (Director, The Australian Ballet School).
Since its inception in 1931, the Genée has awarded 73 Gold medals, with winners going on to dance with some of the world’s leading ballet companies, including The Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet and National Ballet of Canada. The most recent Gold medallist (2017, held in Lisbon, Portugal) Harris Beattie from Aberdeen, UK, also broke Genée history by taking home the Choreographic Award and Audience Choice Award as well. He joins Northern Ballet this month.
The public is invited to attend elements of the competition with tickets now on sale for both the Semi-finals at Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA), the Final on August 12 at Hong Kong City Hall (HKCH) and Genée Fringe events, including a pop-up performance of the semi-finalist’s own classical and contemporary choreography during Afternoon Tea at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong on August 11 and 12.
More info here: www.royalacademyofdance.org/achieve/the-genee/genee-2018
The RAD will be broadcasting free highlights from the Finals of The Genée Live via their Facebook page on Sunday 12th August at 7:30pm (HK time).
