Here we are again in His Majesty’s Theatre for the finals of the Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition 2024, in which twelve dancers, four male, eight female, aged fifteen to nineteen, compete for the prized medals, after a weeklong whittling down from over sixty candidates from fourteen countries around the world. Coaching sessions are by Isabel McMeekan, Samira Saidi and Darren Parrish… quite an undertaking.
Announcements are made, thanks given to so many involved. Musicality and Dancer’s Own Choreographic Awards, decided after three days of semi-finals held at RAD headquarters in Wandsworth, we know before we see this evening’s cohort. The Musicality Award is new this year, and one wonders why that has been so long in coming. Ernesto Young (also Bronze winner tonight) has won the Dancer’s Own Choreographic Award and Christie Anderson the Musicality Award.
Semi-finals are judged by Dame Darcey Bussell, President of the RAD, Alessandra Ferri OMRI, Artistic Director Designate of the Wiener Staatsballett and Jose Alves, former Senior Artist at Ballet Black. For the finals Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, replaces Alves. How nerve-wracking is that, but it is the dancer’s lot to be judged throughout their career.
Twelve dancers, one to twelve pinned on their costumes (reminds me of beauty contests or the 1969 dance marathon film They Shoot Horses Don’t They), are listed by the sixty-six overall candidates' numbers on the handout sheet, for impartiality sake, I assume. One needs the glossy programme to sort out who’s who.
I cross-reference frantically during the interval. Otherwise, it’s a feat of remembering faces and styles across three pieces each. Twelve times three... The evening is long with two intervals.
First come the newly choreographed variations created by The Fonteyn 2024 commissioned choreographer, Andrew McNicol, a freelance British choreographer and founding Artistic Director of McNicol Ballet Collective. Dancers perform either the Holberg Variation (female) or Granados Variation (male).
Then follows the ‘Dancer’s Own’, a choreographed solo created by themselves, their teacher or a peer to a piece of music of their choice. Musical choices are fascinating and revealing, and many are innovative. After that comes the Classical Repertoire Variations, and it’s interesting to see how many go for Le Corsaire (four). Raymonda follows with three, two Le Talisman, one each of Paquita, Cinderella and Satanella.
I don’t envy the judges. The audience has to hand in their choices after the second interval. An audience clapometer would be handy to record the cheers and applause, partisan though they may be. I’m joking, of course. It’s not just a family and supporters’ audience—there are many faces I recognise from the dance world, former winners.
The Gold medal is won by Antonia Maria Cramb, aged 18, from Perthshire, Scotland, trained by Kerry Livingstone and Faculty of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, currently training at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
The Silver medal is won by Lydia Hough, aged 18, from North Lincolnshire, UK, trained by Beverley Spencer, Sebnem Önal and Viviana Durante, currently training at English National Ballet School. Lydia also gets the Margot Fonteyn Audience Choice Award. I won’t reveal my choice, torn as I am between three of the candidates.
The Bronze medal is split between two: Alfie-Lee Hall, aged 18, from Cheshire, UK, trained by Denise Whiteman and Elmhurst Ballet School Artistic Staff, currently training at Elmhurst Ballet School, and Ernesto Young, aged 17, from Australia, trained by Hilary Kaplan and Archibald McKenzie, currently training at Alegria Dance Studios.
To round off the evening, we are treated to Northern Ballet dancers Harris Beattie (winner of the Genée Gold Medal in 2017) and Saeka Shirai dancing the pas de deux from Northern Ballet’s production of Romeo & Juliet. The Fonteyn was previously known as The Genée, “one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, representing the pinnacle of achievement for young dancers trained in the RAD syllabus”.
A launchpad (previous winners include not only Steven McRae and Francesca Hayward but also Leanne Benjamin and Céline Gittens) for young dancers since 1931, the competition tours globally. In addition to the medals and cash prizes, all candidates have “the opportunity to be considered for a variety of tuition scholarship opportunities from renowned dance schools across the globe”.
The three pianists must be applauded, playing out of sight behind the wings: Rebecca Leshures, Richard Norris and Mark Brown. But above all, one has to salute the dedicated driving force, former AD of RAD from 1994 to 2016 Lynn Wallis OBE, the Award producer. Alexander Campbell, RAD’s new AD, pays due homage with a box of flowers.