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Dateline: 20th March, 2008
Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Final Having come through their regional heats of the Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition, some of the UK's best young ballet talent will be travelling to the Bloomsbury Theatre in London where, following two days of coaching,on 13th April they will perform for the chance to win the Young Dancer 2008 title and a £1,500 cash prize. More than 300 candidates entered the competition this year and only twenty secured a place in the Final, having impressed eminent dance professionals including Agnes Oaks (Principal Guest Artist, English National Ballet), Christopher Hampson (international choreographer), Pippa Moore (Leading Soloist, Northern Ballet Theatre), David Nixon (Artistic Director, Northern Ballet Theatre), Marion Tait (Ballet Mistress, Birmingham Royal Ballet), Desmond Kelly (Assistant Director, Birmingham Royal Ballet) and Sarah McIlroy (Principal Dancer, English National Ballet) who acted as guest judges at heats across the country. The Finalists will receive a weekend of one-to-one coaching at the Royal Academy of Dance headquarters from Gillian Lynne CBE, the world-renowned choreographer (Cats, Phantom of the Opera, A Simple Man) who created four variations exclusively for the competition. They will then be taking the stage in front of a live audience of family, friends and dance enthusiasts; their performances will be judged by a panel which is chaired by Dame Antoinette Sibley DBE, President of the Royal Academy of Dance, and includes Sir John Tooley, Chairman of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, and Wayne Sleep OBE, Vice President of the Royal Academy of Dance. The Academy was granted permission to use extracts of music from, and inspired by, the motion pictures Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, composed by John Williams. As opposed to the heats, where participants performed the variations to a piano arrangement, at the Final they will be dancing to the original score, which really brings the pieces to life and sets the young dancers an additional challenge. Two Finalists, one from each Level, will be awarded the Young Dancer
2008 title and will receive a generous cash prize of £1500
each, The Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers Competition, named after two of the greatest dancers ever, was first held in 2006 (see Peter Lathan's report on the final) and is held biennially. Its aim is to increase the popularity of ballet among young people and to identify, encourage and nurture talent for the long-term future of British Ballet. Gillian Lynne has been a great supporter of the competition from the beginning. Commenting on her previous experience of coaching the Finalists in the competition, she said, "During my long and rewarding career in theatre, as a dancer, choreographer and director; I have always loved working with young people. This experience however was very warm and special. They showed such eagerness to learn and were a delight to watch. It was immensely fulfilling to be able to coach them in the solos I had created for them."
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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