Erin Alarie has won the Gold Medal at the Royal Academy of Dance’s (RAD) Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, held at the London Coliseum on Sunday 8th November.
Canadian-born Alarie, aged 17, trains at Oakville School of Classical Ballet. She danced extracts from Fille and The Sleeping Beauty, as well as her own solo, Allemande. She also won the Dancer’s Own Choreographic Award.
The Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, attracting the finest young dancers trained in the RAD syllabus. Informally known as ‘The Fonteyn’, the annual event is dedicated to promoting and rewarding standards of excellence in young ballet dancers. It offers candidates from around the globe a unique opportunity to work with world-renowned choreographers and professionals, as well as the chance to perform on famous international stages.
The 71 competition entrants, who came from 19 different countries, had been whittled down to 12 for the final, which was introduced by the RAD’s artistic director Alexander Campbell. The competitors were required to dance a short work of their own choice, a classical variation from ballets ranging from La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Giselle, Raymonda and The Sleeping Beauty, and – for the first time – a selection of solos choreographed by Frederick Ashton that included Birthday Offering, La Fille mal gardée and Sylvia.
18-year-old Tzu Ho Ting, from China, who trains at the Berlin State Ballet School, won the Silver Medal, and the Bronze medal was shared by British-born Siena Murphy, 17, from English National Ballet School, and 18-year-old Chinese-born Chi Kok Ip, who trains at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. 19-year-old Chelsea Humm, from New Zealand who studies at Convergence Dance Studios, won the Audience Choice Award. Earlier in the week, Spanish-born 19-year-old Gonzalo Toledo, who attends the Escuela de Musica y Danza Belen Fernandez, was presented with the Musicality Award.
The judges for the final were RAD president Darcey Bussell, who was joined by Kevin O’Hare, director of The Royal Ballet, Lynn Wallis, former artistic director of the RAD, Royal Ballet principal Francesca Hayward, and dancer and choreographer Mthuthuzeli November.
The final also included performances from The Royal Ballet’s Marianna Tsembenhoi in the “Shadow” dance from Ashton’s Ondine, and Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov in the pas de deux from Ashton’s Sylvia.
Alexander Campbell announced from the stage that the 2027 Fonteyn Competition will take place in Singapore.
