Nominations Announced for 2010 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award

Six talented dancers are set to embark on an extraordinary journey, with the nominees for the 2010 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award were revealed in Melbourne today.

The 2010 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominees are Amy Harris (Ballarat, Victoria), Ty King-Wall (Waihi, New Zealand), Miwako Kubota (Okinawa, Japan), Natasha Kusen (Sydney, NSW), Dana Stephensen (Brisbane, QLD) and Vivienne Wong (Sydney, NSW).

Now in its eighth year, the award is the highest accolade of its kind available to an Australian ballet dancer.

By the end of 2010, one of these talented individuals will join the ranks of previous winners who have gone on to lead The Australian Ballet.

Conceived in 2003 to support the aspirations of The Australian Ballet's dancers, the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award encourages excellence across all aspects of ballet.

The winner is awarded a $20,000 cash prize, provided by Telstra. The ever-popular People's Choice Award, worth $5,000 cash, will go to the dancer who receives the most public votes in 2010.

Group Managing Director, Telstra Business, Deena Shiff, said supporting the development of aspiring ballet dancers continued to be a priority for Telstra.

"Telstra has supported The Australian Ballet for over a quarter of a century, and a big part of our partnership is focusing attention on the upcoming ranks of the company, to provide dancers with a boost in their professional careers," she continued.

This year's nominees were nominated by The Australian Ballet's artistic staff, previous winners of the award and Principal Artists.

Each will be judged on the artistic quality of their work over the course of a full performance year. They will also be judged on perceived potential, personal development and their support of other dancers.

Last year, in a clean sweep, Newcastle darling Stephanie Williams won both the coveted Telstra Ballet Dancer Award and the People's Choice Award in front of a capacity crowd at the Sydney Opera House. (Amber Scott, currently a Senior Artist with The Australian Ballet, is the only other person to win both Awards, doing so in 2004).

The first chance to see the 2010 nominees in action will be in The Silver Rose, touring Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.

To vote for your favourite dancer, simply SMS their first name to 0439 BALLET (0439 225 538) or visit beinvolved.com.au.

The search is officially on for Australia's favourite ballet dancer!

Previous winners of the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award:

2009
Stephanie Williams
2008
Kevin Jackson
2007
Daniel Gaudiello
2006
Gina Brescianini

2005
Lana Jones
2004
Amber Scott
2003
Matthew Lawrence

ABOUT THE NOMINEES

Amy Harris - Coryphée
Amy Harris was born in Ararat, Victoria and began jazz and tap classes at her local ballet school, Rosengreens School of Dancing, at the age of three. From the age of ten she trained in the Cecchetti method with Carole Oliver School of Ballet in Ballarat, and as a Cecchetti scholar won bronze and silver medals. In 1999, aged 15, Amy successfully auditioned for The Australian Ballet School. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2002 and was promoted to Coryphée in 2007.
You may not know...Amy loves photography and music and finds herself snapping away and going to gigs whenever she can fit it in.

Ty King-Wall - Soloist
Born in Waihi, New Zealand, Ty King-Wall started dancing at the age of seven. A Junior Associate of the New Zealand School of Dance, he left New Zealand at 16 to study full-time at The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. In 2004, Ty was part of The Australian Ballet School's exchange program to the USA and Canada. Upon graduating dux with honours, Ty was accepted into The Australian Ballet in 2006. He was promoted to Soloist in 2010, and has toured with the company to Tokyo, Paris, London and Manchester. You may not know... Ty is studying by correspondence towards a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in History and Classical Studies through New Zealand's Massey University. He is an avid follower of cricket and watches it religiously.

Miwako Kubota - Senior Artist

Miwako was born in Japan and began her ballet training with Fumika Morishima in Okinawa. Before joining The Australian Ballet School she trained with Kimie Sasamoto and Iwao Nagae in Tokyo. In 1997 Miwako was awarded the Idemitsu Scholarship at the sixth Asia Pacific Competition. After graduating from The Australian Ballet School in 1998 with honours she joined The Australian Ballet, going on to perform many ballets, including principal roles, and tour to Japan, New Zealand, China, London and New York with the company. Miwako was promoted to the rank of Senior Artist in 2010.
You may not know... Miwako loves horse racing, knitting, cooking and is a proud Melbourne Storm supporter.

Natasha Kusen - Coryphée
Born in Sydney, Natasha began dancing at the age of four. She trained with Nicholina Kuner's Academy Ballet in Randwick. In 2001 Natasha won a scholarship at the Prix de Lausanne - one of the most prestigious international ballet competitions in Switzerland - to study at The Royal Ballet School in London. While she was still a student, Natasha toured with The Royal Ballet to Australia in 2002 and Russia in 2003. After graduating at The Royal Ballet School in 2003, Natasha joined The Australian Ballet's Corps de Ballet. In 2006 she was the recipient of the George Garratt Scholarship, which enabled her to gain valuable experience visiting various European ballet companies. She was promoted to Coryphée in 2010.
You may not know... At the beginning of 2009, Natasha took part in a dancer exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet and spent three months with the company, where she performed in
their production of The Nutcracker.

Dana Stephensen - Coryphée
At the age of three Dana Stephensen began her dance training with Davidia Lind in jazz, tap, ballet and singing in her hometown of Brisbane. She later trained with Mary Heath and Sandra Ashley before studying with the Queensland Dance School of Excellence. She was an Interstate Associate of The Australian Ballet School before joining the senior school full-time in 2002. In her graduating
year she was seconded to The Australian Ballet to perform in various seasons before joining the company in 2005. At the end of 2008, Dana was awarded the Khitercs Scholarship which enabled her to gain invaluable experience training with numerous ballet companies in Europe. She was promoted to Coryphée in 2010.
You may not know...Dana is one of the enlightened minority who regards the 80s as a period of high musical achievement and believes she may hold the unofficial land speed record for strutting in stilettos.

Vivienne Wong - Coryphée
Born in Sydney in 1983, Vivienne trained at the Ecole Classique, the North Shore Dance Academy and, later, The Australian Ballet School, as well as studying at the Newtown High School of Performing Arts. In 2001 she travelled to Paris with The Australian Ballet School for the Danse de Mai. Vivienne joined The Australian Ballet in 2003 and was promoted to Coryphée in 2008.
You may not know... Vivienne loves music and going to see live bands, concerts, symphonies, operas and musicals. She also loves yoga, the outdoors, playing guitar, and has a passion
for natural medicine.

For more information, visit http://www.australianballet.com.au

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