BALLET NEWS UPDATE

Scottish Ballet news

The ever innovative and resourceful Scottish Ballet bring you a unique competition - "LOVE IDOL", if you will !!

Erik Cavallari as Romeo and Sophie Martin as Juliet in Krzysztof Pastor’s Romeo and Juliet.

Photograph by Andrew Ross.

Scottish Ballet are having a ‘love week’ to tie in with their forthcoming tour of Romeo and Juliet.

They will be visiting one of the main shopping centres in each city that they are taking the tour to ~ Glasgow (Princes Square Mon 8th, 11am – 4pm), Edinburgh (St James’ Shopping Centre Tues 9th 11am – 4pm), Inverness (Eastgate Shopping Centre Wed 10th 11am – 4pm) and Aberdeen (Union Square Thurs 11th 11am – 4pm) and setting up a Romeo and Juliet ‘love seat’ where they will encourage members of the public to leave a special video love message – whether that be a romantic story or maybe even a message to their loved one. Each of these videos will then go onto a dedicated love story section of their website with the option to vote for your favourite (for each city) ~ a kind of ‘love idol’ I suppose!

The winner in each city will receive a gorgeous romantic prize package including VIP tickets to see Romeo and Juliet in their city, champagne and strawberries at the interval and an overnight stay and dinner at a luxury hotel in that city (in Glasgow for example the dinner and stay will be in the 5 star Townhouse hotel – ooooh!). Their messages of love will also be presented on a special winners page on their website.

I'll be following up once the competition is over to see whether any romantic souls decide to pop the question !


Birmingham Royal Ballet news

If you followed the fabulous Prix de Lausanne finals on Sunday afternoon, shown live over the internet, you'll know that Elmhust School of Dance did very well indeed.  I featured one of their trained dancers, Maria Engel, last year, and another of their students has won at the Prix :

MEDIA RELEASE: 2.2.2010


ELMHURST SCHOOL FOR DANCE, CELEBRATES SUCCESS AT PRESTIGIOUS DANCE COMPETITION

LEWIS TURNER, ELMHURST STUDENT, WINS THE CONTEMPORARY DANCE PRIZE AT PRIX DE LAUSANNE 2010

Elmhurst School for Dance, associate school of Birmingham Royal Ballet, is delighted to announce success for sixth form student and head-boy, Lewis Turner, who won the contemporary dance prize at the finals of the Prix de Lausanne, the celebrated dance competition held in Switzerland.

Created in 1973, The Prix de Lausanne, an international competition for young dancers, is open to young dancers of all nationalities aged 15 to 18 who are not yet professionals. Through its mission statement it aims to highlight exceptional dance talent from around the world, opening doors to professional training with emphasis on healthy lifestyles and the importance of academic tuition working alongside dance training.

On Sunday 31 January, Lewis competed against young dancers from across the globe at the competition held annually and danced his way to success with the piece Libera Me by Cathy Marston, Director and choreographer of Bern Ballett, Switzerland.

This prize, donated by Fondation Nestlé Pour L’art, is awarded to the finalist who, through the interpretation of their contemporary variation at the finals, shows exceptional potential in the area of contemporary dance. The prize consists of a free contemporary dance summer course, including travel and accommodation.

Desmond Kelly, Artistic Director, Elmhurst School for Dance said:

Lewis Turner is one of the most focused hard working dancers I have ever had the pleasure to teach. His success at the Prix de Lausanne is a direct reflection of his admirable work ethic. We at Elmhurst School for Dance are very proud of him.

Congratulations to Lewis and to all of the competitors - this year the number of boys exceeded the girls for the first time in Prix history.