The Royal Academy of Dance recently announced the medallists of the prestigious Genée International Ballet Competition 2019, held at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto on 29 August. After a week of intensive coaching from world-renowned teachers and choreographers, the competition final saw the coveted gold medal awarded to Darrion Sellman, from the USA, trained by Andrea Paris-Gutierrez and Jose Carayol, and Mia Zanardo, from Australia, trained by Hilary Kaplan and Archibald McKenzie.
Silver medals were awarded to Malaysian dancer Julian Wen-Sheng Gan, trained by Serena Tan Suet Leng, and Australian dancer Paloma Hendry-Hodsdon, trained by Shirley Rogers. Jessica Templeton from the UK, trained by Faculty of Tring Park School was awarded a bronze medal. Julian Wen-Sheng Gan was also presented with the Margot Fonteyn Audience Choice Award, and the Choreographic Award for best Dancer’s Own variation was awarded to Ashton Parker from South Africa, trained by Jonathan Barton.
Hosted by a different country each year, the Genée returned to Toronto for the first time since 2008 with week-long events attracting 62 of the world’s finest young dancers from 13 different nationalities. The competition saw finalists perform three solos including never-before seen pieces by Italian-Canadian choreographer Gioconda Barbuto, who was commissioned by RAD to create two variations (one for male candidates and one for female candidates) for the competition. The young dancers were judged by Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, Dame Monica Mason DBE, former Director of The Royal Ballet, Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet and Magdalena Popa, Principal Artistic Coach of The National Ballet of Canada.
The Genée, now in its 88th year, began in 1931 to celebrate the world’s most talented young performers. Earlier this year, the RAD announced that as of 2020 the competition will be renamed to celebrate its longest-serving President, Dame Margot Fonteyn, who would have turned 100 years old in 2019. The year 2020 also marks the first time that the competition will be held at London’s Royal Opera House, offering aspiring young dancers the chance to perform on one of the world’s most famous stages.