Genée Finalists

All photos by Chi Wai Cheung

Half of The Genée Finalists Are Aussies!

Watch the Live Streamed Final Tomorrow at 4:30pm (EST)

After a week of classes and workshops with 51 candidates from 13 countries, 14 finalists have been selected to compete in the Final on Sunday 12th August in Hong Kong. This is the first time in ten years so many dancers have been selected for the finals.

Incredibly, 7 of these 14 finalists are trained in Australia! They are:

  • Lily Carbone (15) Australian, trained by Juanita Moore at Classical Coaching Australia
  • Breana Drummond (17) New Zealander, trained by Marie Walton Mahon at Tanya Pearson Academy
  • Caitlin Garlick (15) Australian, trained by Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre
  • Chloe Jackson (18) British, trained by Heidi Landford at Atelier Australia
  • Enoka Sato (16) Japanese, trained by Annette Roselli at Annette Roselli Dance Academy
  • Lucinda Worthing-Shore (15) Australian, trained by Marie Walton Mahon at Tanya Pearson Academy
  • Joshua Green (17) Australian, trained by Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre

The other 7 finalists are:

  • Monet Hewitt (16) New Zealander, trained by Joye Lowe at Philippa Campbell School of Ballet
  • Sophie Higgins (16) Canadian, trained by Tania Brossoit at Pro Arte Centre
  • Michaela Louw (16) South African, trained by Natasha Ireland at Carstens Ireland Ballet School
  • Lucy Malin (18) British, trained by Jonathan Barton at Ballet West
  • Soraya Nathasya Dwinandry (17) Indonesian, trained by Maya Tamara at Namarina Dance Academy
  • Jordan Yeuk Hay Chan (16) British (Hong Kong), trained by Yui Man Cheung at Jean M Wong School of Ballet
  • Basil James (16) British, trained by Faculty of Tring Park School

Australian Joshua Green also won the Choreographic Award. The judges felt that his solo A Man’s Sentiment (choreographed by Richard Causer) demonstrated the highest standard of choreography within the Dancer’s Own category.

After two days of semi-finals, judged by Janek Schergen, Artistic Director at Singapore Dance Theatre, Joanne Michel, Ballet Mistress for The Australian Ballet School and Chi Cao, former Principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet, the finalists now compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. In addition to the three medals, the Margot Fonteyn Audience Choice Award will also be given.

Highlights from The Genée Final on Sunday 12 August will be broadcast free and live from the Genée International Ballet Competition Facebook page from 7.25pm Hong Kong time (4:30pm Australian EST).

Read out previous story on The 2018 Genée here