Prix de Lausanne

Although life in general is getting easier, sometimes the memory of a special person just catches you at those moments where you would usually just pick up the phone and share something which would both find interesting. Sometimes it's not so much the performance I've just been to see, but what I find online. That's a funny one in itself, as GM never really lived in the world I did.  I might not be a 'digital native' but I thoroughly live in the digital world, work included.  The internet was a strange thing to most people born in the 30s - my grandparents tried it once when my brother got them a tablet and a data package, but the functionality just didn't make sense to them. 

There's a huge amount of fabulous content on YouTube, often in HD. I've see Don Quixote from the Dutch National Ballet with Matthew Golding, Coppelia from the Bolshoi with Natalia Osipova, an ancient Swan Lake from when the Mariinsky was known as the Kirov and a plethora of fine documentaries from around the world.

This week has been the Prix de Lausanne - the highly rated annual ballet competition which takes place in Switzerland. Prix winners are given a year long scholarship to a partner ballet school of their choice and older entrants can win an apprenticeship with the company of their choice. Previous winners include Deborah Bull and Alessandra Ferri, both former dancers with the Royal ballet (although Ferri of course is making her return this season), some of my favourite (RB) dancers Viviana Durante, Darcey Bussell and of course, Carlos Acosta, for whom the Prix announced him to the world at large and opened a life of opportunity for him. 

The Prix is now available to watch online, live on Arte TV, and gives access to classes, workshops and coaching sessions for both classical and contemporary ballet. Watching the week leading up to the performances on  Friday and Saturday (available live and also after the event for quite a while), you can seek out favourites from your armchair.  The great thing about the Prix is that entrants aren't simply judged on their performance on the day, but also based on the improvement they have made based on the classes and the limited 6 minute coaching sessions they have had. It was great to see 2 personal favourites not only make it through to the final, but also winning prizes. 

You can watch the final and find more videos here.