Who we are

Kathryn Bradney © Aline Paley, 2021

After an international career as a principal dancer, teacher and ballet master for Maurice Béjart (Béjart Ballet Lausanne) from 1986 to 2005, Kathryn Bradney opens her own successful private ballet school, company and filming company and becomes deeply involved with the Prix de Lausanne since 2006. She has been a member of the video preselection jury and the South American preselection jury. She produced the filming and live streaming, has been Production Manager from March 2017 and, from November 2017 to June 2018, the Associate Director of the Prix de Lausanne. She is currently Artistic & Executive Director of the competition.

Ms. Bradney aims to uphold the Prix de Lausanne’s mission of excellence : to reveal potential, provide access, promote scholastic education and enhance healthy habits for dance students on all continents. Looking forward, she is committed to expanding the competition worldwide, to scout new talent and to support dancers and reveal new opportunities for them well into their professional dance careers.

Kathryn Bradney was born in the USA and studied dance in New York where she graduated with honors. Right away, she danced professionally with various companies such as the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (Balanchine repertory), the New York City Opera Company at Lincoln Center and, from 1986 until 2005, with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, where she was a Principal dancer performing internationally the Béjart masterpieces such as Bolero, Bhakti, Firebird, Ballet for Life, Hamlet, King Lear/Tempest and The Silk Road among many others.

She is a guest teacher for the Stuttgart Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Conservatoire Supérieur de Danse de Cergy-Pontoise in Paris, Ballet du Rhin, Tanz Akademie Zurich as well as giving master classes in Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, the Solothurn Dance Competition, the Migros Dance Competition in Zurich and at the Prix de Lausanne among others.

In 2001, Ms Bradney becomes Maurice Béjart’s assistant as ballet mistress and main teacher for the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. She also dances and acts in the movie One Last Dance with Patrick Swayze. Since 2004, she is a choreographer for various galas from the opening ceremony of the International Harp Symposium in Lyon, the reopening of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne to creating many different choreographies that are performed by the Igokat Company. In 2006, she forms the Igokat Dance Academy and Dance Company in Lausanne with her husband Igor Piovano.

Since 2006, she has been a jury member for the Prix de Lausanne’s video pre-selections and has been responsible for the video trailers and blogs for the competition. In 2017, she became the Production Manager and was later named Associate Director. In 2018, she was appointed Artistic and Executive Director of the Prix de Lausanne.

Olivier Glauser, President of the Board | © Gregory Batardon 2023

President of the Board

Olivier Glauser

Vice President of the Board

Sophie Ciola-Dutoit

Members of the Board

Honorary Presidents

Franz Blankart †
Philippe Braunschweig †
Charles Gebhard
Stéphane Lagonico

Honorary members