Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance 2021

Our warmest congratulations to the winners of the Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance 2021, which took place on Friday 26 November. Thank you to all the students who took part for sharing your chosen pieces and for your hard work in preparing them.

Each year, 2nd Year students at The Royal Ballet School are invited to perform expressive solos of their choice, prepared on their own without any coaching. This year, they performed for Dame Monica Mason and Kevin O’Hare, former and current Directors of The Royal Ballet. The Chairman’s Circle were also invited to attend.

The Award was established in 2000 by Nina Finburgh in honour of the great Lynn Seymour, one of our most celebrated dramatic ballerinas. Nina generously left a gift in her will to ensure the Lynn Seymour Award can continue.

Congratulations to our 2021 winners:

1st place:

Caspar Lench

Takademe, Robert Battle

Joint 2nd place:

Milda Luckute

Carmen Suite, Alberto Alonso

Noah Seidl

Nijinsky, John Neumeier

Joint 3rd place:

Bethany Bartlett

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Alice Alone, Christopher Wheeldon

Alexander Larsson

Spring and Fall, John Neumeier

Commendations:

Ariana Allen

Cinderella – Act III, Cinderella Awakens, Alexei Ratmansky

Liya Fan

The Sleeping Beauty – Act II, Aurora variation, Nacho Duato

Spartacus by Tom Merrifield

This year, the School gratefully received the gift of Spartacus, a sculpture by Tom Merrifield, in the will of Beryl Lankester. Beryl requested that the sculpture be given annually to an Upper School student who displays great artistry in performance. From this year on, it will be awarded annually to winning student/s of the Lynn Seymour Award and live in Aud Jebsen Hall throughout the academic year.

An image of Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable, dancing in Romeo and Juliet, will be displayed with the sculpture.