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Prix de Lausanne 2014


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I wonder if an UK participant who is not already in the ballet schools in the UK will be accepted in say RB upperschool in the event they win a prize?

 

May be this is the reason why we don't see a lot of Vaganova students, Paris Opera School students or RB students entering in the competition.  I remember reading somewhere that Diana Vishneva was made to enter the competiton to showcase the excellence of Vaganova Academy only...  

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I was always under the impression that a main driver for students to enter the prix de Lausanne was to gain entry and scholarships to the partner schools. If you are already a student at one of these schools, it would be unlikely that the school would want to lose a student to another school no?

I know at my dd's school, it's not an option. And that's with the Artistic Director of her school being former President of the Jury and AD of the PDL. Just a thought.

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I was always under the impression that a main driver for students to enter the prix de Lausanne was to gain entry and scholarships to the partner schools. If you are already a student at one of these schools, it would be unlikely that the school would want to lose a student to another school no?

I know at my dd's school, it's not an option. And that's with the Artistic Director of her school being former President of the Jury and AD of the PDL. Just a thought.

I agree. I think the main aim is to showcase the school, or gain entry to an Upper School/ Trainee Company that could potentially offer better employment outcomes.

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Is that really the main aim? 

 

I thought it was a competition where dancers from various countries pitted themselves against each other, and that they won money to be spent on the next term's school fees.  Obviously, if someone from a relatively minor school won, I would have thought they would be offered a place at one of the top schools, but I thought that was one of the side effects, not the main point of the competition. 

 

Darcey Bussell came third in one of the Prix competitions, didn't she?  And she was already at the RBS, so it wasn't for the offer of a place. 

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Things have changed a lot since Darcey's day.  The prizes are scholarships for the younger dancers and apprenticeships for the older ones.  It is fairly comprehensively explained on PdL's own website.  However, it is an amazing opportunity for all participants to train and rehearse with world class teachers and choreographers. It really is a case of taking part being nearly  as important as winning.  ENB's Lauretta Summerscales didn't make it through to the finals - but look how well she is doing now!

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Exactly - you have to be pretty special just to get into PdL. I have watched Lauretta grow and mature over several years and think she is lovely, I saw her dance Gulnare in Southampton.  Although she is a little older than my dd, they were on summer courses together & she was already remarkable as a student.  

 

It may be that people entering from a partner school are not wishing to change schools, but just hope to win a scholarship to pay the fees where they are. The schools then benefit from the exposure and may see the number of applicants rise.  When Bruce Sansom was Director of Central School and also on the Prix jury, they had many overseas applicants for the school.  There still are, but I don't think as many.

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Interesting that over 50% of the women's finalists are Japanese or Chinese. It does feel like Japanese/Chinese women are claiming a disproportionate share of success in the world of ballet these days. 

 

 

Perhaps that is because they are allowed to go in for these competitions?  :)

 

I would be interested to know why certain schools ban it altogether.  Maybe it is because they feel that the competition takes place to enter the school in the first place, and if you are already a student there is no need. 

 

Also, how were students from schools such as RB picked in the past?  Are they the ones deemed by the teachers to be the best of the best?  The future company members?  It could be extremely demoralising for other students in that scenario.  You might feel it is not worth bothering to continue. 

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My daughter did Prix many years ago. It was a wonderful but scary experience. It was very similar to the festivals she used to do but on a grander scale. Yes it was an expensive venture, although the finalists get some money towards their expenses. She was one of the older contestants and was really job hunting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I enjoyed following it last year for the first time (thanks to my newish ipad at the time) and watched all the students blogs etc. I got almost as emotional as some of them at the end!!

 

However it would have been nice to have an insight more from the judges side.....and a little listen in to some of the deliberations would have been appreciated!!

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  • 1 month later...

This year's Prix de Lausanne starts tomorrow (Monday, 27th Jan), and again has an impressive online component: http://www.prixdelausanne.org/v4/index.php/tickets-2014.html#events_tv_online. This includes the final, which will be streamed live at http://www.prixdelausanne-live.com next Saturday, 1st Feb, at 15:00 CMT (i.e. 2 p.m. UK time).

 

As always, alongside the competitive element, there's a strong focus on the health of the dancers, who have to take a very detailed health questionnaire, designed to raise awareness of bone health, eating disorders etc. The Prix will also have a first screening of a short documentary, "Patrick Rump: Sports Scientist." According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, quoted in yesterday's Links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10580011/Why-do-dancers-get-injured-so-often.html

"[the documentary]" focuses on the work of the titular character – a staggeringly handsome young German with a background in martial arts, who has pioneered radically new programmes for rehabilitating injured dancers which also improve performance , endurance and technique.

 

The Daily Telegraph article also quotes Jay Jolley, Acting Director of RBS, saying that "although the RBS greatly values its association with the Prix and welcomes its scholars and apprentices, curriculum demands make it impossible to allow its own students to take the necessary time off."

 

Yaffa

[edited to remove typos]

Edited by Yaffa
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