2025 Finals Interlude
07 Feb 2025
Each year, the Prix de Lausanne organises performances during the traditional Interlude of the Finals, keeping the audience entertained while they await the results! It is with great pleasure that we present to you the programme of the Finals’ Interlude for this 2025 edition.
Programme
This year, we are pleased to welcome as guests António Casalinho, a 2021 Prize Winner, and Margarita Fernandes, rising stars of the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich. They will dance the pas de deux from ‘Le Corsaire’ and the balcony pas de deux from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by John Cranko.
Le Corsaire, by Joseph Mazilier & Marius Petipa, pas de deux
Music by Adolph Adam
Romeo and Juliet, by John Cranko, balcony pas de deux
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Photo by: Christopher Duggan
This week, the Young Creation Award finals were held on Wednesday, 5 January, and five finalists presented their original variations to the public and the Prix de Lausanne’s Jury. Two beautiful variations were chosen, and we are absolutely delighted to present them to the audience for a second time on the Beaulieu Theatre stage during the Finals’ Interlude!
- 20 Miles From Shore
By Henry Lichtmacher (United States) – Houston Ballet Academy
Dancer: Alex Westerman
Music: The Ballerina, Lars Meyer
- Extinction
By Alexander Mockrish (Sweden) – ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
Dancer: Caroline Quiner
Music: Etude Nr 1 for String Quartet, Peter Sandberg
We are thrilled to honour the Partner School Choreographic Project by presenting it as a world premiere during the Final’s Interlude on the Beaulieu Theatre’s stage!
Since 2018, the Prix de Lausanne has been proud to offer the Partner School Choreographic Project. Designed as a choreographic and educational programme, it gives selected students from our Partner Schools the opportunity to come to Lausanne to learn and perform a unique, tailor-made choreography with a renowned choreographer.
This year, 26 young dancers from our Partner Schools participated in this unique project and staged an original piece by choreographer Jessica Lang in one week. We are thrilled to honour this beautiful project by presenting it as a world premiere during the Final’s Interlude on the Beaulieu Theatre’s stage!
Title of the piece
Our Common Fate
Artistic Team
- Choreographer Jessica Lang
- Assistant choreographer Kanji Segawa
- Music David Lang
- Light designer Zeynep Kepekli
Dancers
American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School: Jada Bryant
Acosta Dance Academy: Rolando Dieguez Escobar
Academy of Dance – Mannheim: Alba Johanna Boixadós Meinhard
Ballet Academy – University of Music and Performing Arts Munich: Ignacio Ilan Sastre
Boston Ballet School: Kiera Meighan
Canada’s National Ballet School: Marley Burke
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School: Adeline Fletcher
Central School of Ballet: Isolde Battier
Dutch National Ballet Academy: Noortje Willemse
Paris Opera Ballet School: Manon Baranger
Houston Ballet Academy: Kieryn Brophy
Hungarian Dance University: Levente Bajusz
Royal Ballet School Antwerp: Lore De Smet
New Zealand School of Dance: Stella Clarkson
Oslo National Academy of the Arts: Saoirse Cameron-Higgs
Palucca University of Dance: Anka Yorimitsu
Pôle National Supérieur de Danse Rosella Hightower: Nina Waelde Lamy
Queensland Ballet Academy: Maya Irimichi
Royal Conservatoire The Hague: Iria Díaz Muñoz
Royal Danish Ballet School: Celine Kalmayer Olsen
Royal Swedish Ballet School: Malvina Kolb
School of the Hamburg Ballet: Yun Lin
National Conservatory Dance School Lisbon: Francisco Godinho
Royal Ballet School: Shani Moran-Simmonds
University of North Carolina School of the Arts: Margaux Beller
Zurich Dance Academy: Elena Stefanetti
Read more about the Choreographic Project
A moment of great significance, the Interlude of the Finals will conclude with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be awarded this year to Li Cunxin. Li Cunxin’s life story is a testament to overcoming adversity through discipline and perseverance.
Born into extreme poverty in Mao’s China, Li was selected at a young age to train at the Beijing Dance Academy. His seven years of harsh training made him one of the best dancers in the world. He then made a career transitioning from dance to finance, Li excelled as a senior manager in one of Australia’s largest stockbroking firms. He then returned to dance and became Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet which transformed the company from a small regional ballet company into a globally recognised institution.
Li has received numerous prestigious honours and awards. Li’s autobiography, Mao’s Last Dancer, became an international bestseller and was adapted into a blockbuster film. Li’s inspirational story exemplifies overcoming adversity and achieving excellence in life.
Click here to find out more about Li Cunxin’s extraordinary story!
