Genée announces 2018 medalists

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced the medallists of this year’s prestigious Genée International Ballet Competition, held at Hong Kong City Hall on August 12. After a week of intensive coaching from world-renowned teachers and choreographers, the competitive Final saw the coveted gold medal awarded to 17-year-old Australian dancer Joshua Green, trained by Karen Ireland, and 16-year-old New Zealand dancer Monet Hewitt, trained by Joye Lowe. 

Silver medals were awarded to Caitlin Garlick, also trained by Karen Ireland, and Basil James, trained by Anthony Dowson and Jennifer Hale. Enoka Sato, trained by Annette Roselli, and Jordan Yeuk Hay Chan, trained by Yui Man Cheung, were awarded the bronze medals. 

Joshua Green started dancing in 2016 under the watchful eye of Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre. In April 2018, he travelled to New York and was selected as a top 20 dancer at the Youth America Grand Prix finals. He also received a scholarship to The John Cranko Schule. After completing the Genée, he stays in Hong Kong as one of the selected finalists of the Asian Grand Prix.

Monet Hewitt from Auckland, New Zealand, began dancing when he was eight years old at Philippa Campbell School of Ballet under the tutelage of Joye Lowe, Jane Turner and Geordan Wilcox.

Jordan Yeuk Hay Chan was presented with the Margot Fonteyn Audience Choice Award. 

Meanwhile, Green also won the Choreographic Award for best Dancer’s Own variation.

The 2018 Genée attracted 51 of the world’s finest young dancers from 13 nationalities, aged between 15 and 19 years old. The competition saw finalists perform three solos including never-before seen pieces by esteemed choreographer Carlos AC Pacis, who was commissioned by RAD to create two variations (one for male candidates and one for female candidates) for the competition. 

The young dancers were judged by Septime Webre, artistic director for Hong Kong Ballet; Janek Schergen, artistic director at Singapore Dance Theatre; Lisa Pavane, director of The Australian Ballet School; Joanne Michel, ballet mistress for The Australian Ballet School; and Chi Cao, former principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet. 

The competition was also attended by the Ambassador for Genée 2018, Ye FeiFei (current principal dancer at Hong Kong Ballet), who also performed as part of the Hong Kong Ballet guest performance at the Final. Ye FeiFei was awarded a silver medal at Genée 2006, when the competition was last held in Hong Kong.

Now in its 87th year, the Genée International Ballet Competition is named after RAD’s first president, Dame Adeline Genée. It’s renowned for launching the professional careers of many young dancers. Alongside Ye FeiFei, previous winners have gone on to dance with companies including The Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.

The RAD worked with a number of partners to make this year’s Genée happen. These include Hong Kong Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet Group, Avanton, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and The Excelsior, Hong Kong, Harlequin Floors, Phillips (auctioneers since 1796) and the Dame Margot Fonteyn Scholarship Fund.

Toronto has been announced as the host city for the 2019 Genée International Ballet Competition, with full details for next year’s competition being announced within a couple months. Head to www.rad.org.au for more information. 

Congratulations to all the dancers who competed at this year’s Genée! Especially Gold Medallists Joshua Green and Monet Hewitt! 

Seven out of the 14 competing dancers who’d trained in Australia made it to the 2018 Final – 15-year-old Australian Lily Carbone, who trained with Juanita Moore at Classical Coaching Australia; 17-year-old New Zealander Breana Drummond, who trained with Marie Walton Mahon at Tanya Pearson Academy; 15-year-old Australian Caitlin Garlick, who trained with Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre; 18-year-old British dancer Chloe Jackson, who trained with Heidi Landford at Atelier Australia; 16-year-old Japanese dancer Enoka Sato, who trained with Annette Roselli at Annette Roselli Dance Academy; 15-year-old Australian dancer Lucinda Worthing-Shore, who trained with Marie Walton Mahon at Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching; and of course, Joshua Green!

Photo (top): Genée 2018 Medallists with (left to right) Hilary Clark, Carlo AC Pacis and Petal Miller Ashmole. Photo (left): Gold medallist Joshua Green. Photo (right): Gold medallist Monet Hewitt. Photos by Keith Sin, courtesy of the Royal Academy of Dance.