The Australian Ballet and Telstra are pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards. Soloist Rina Nemoto took centre stage last night as she was named winner of the Telstra Rising Star Award in recognition of her exceptional talent, outstanding achievements and bright future predicted in the artform. Corps de Ballet Dancer, Lilly Maskery, took out the 2022 Telstra People’s Choice Award.
The winner was announced last night by Telstra Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Penn. The announcement was made on stage at the Sydney Opera House following the Sydney opening of The Australian Ballet’s much-anticipated and widely acclaimed new ballet, Anna Karenina.
Telstra Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Penn said: “It is wonderful to recognize exceptional talent and the outstanding achievements of Rina Nemoto with the Telstra Rising Star Award and Lilly Maskery for her outstanding contribution this year with the Telstra People’s Choice Award. We look forward to watching your careers flourish and I have no doubt you will both drive the future of dance forward and inspire other Australians. Telstra is thrilled to continue to recognise the rising stars of ballet and the next generation of dance talent through these awards, especially on the back of a very difficult two years for the arts.”
The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director, David Hallberg, congratulated Rina and Lilly on their wins: “I am immensely proud to join Telstra in announcing Rina Nemoto and Lilly Maskery as winners of the 2022 Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards. In my short time as Artistic Director of this company I have watched both Rina and Lilly grow as artists, showing that the combination of individuality and hard work truly do pay off. I know this recognition will surely give them the deserved spotlight for them to shine in. I would also like to take this moment to thank Telstra for supporting The Australian Ballet and the talent that they spotlight. It is encouraging for all of us here to know we are aligned in nurturing the talent within The Australian Ballet.”
The Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards incorporates two separate awards: The Telstra Rising Star Award, chosen by a panel of judges with a $25,000 prize for the winner; and The Telstra People’s Choice Award, chosen by a public vote with a $15,000 prize. This year, the award generated huge public interest with 170,000 votes collated from online and SMS. Last year saw an increase in total prize money to $40,000, thanks to the long-standing support of Telstra and their commitment to help young artists to thrive.
The partnership between Telstra and The Australian Ballet has helped to celebrate ballet talent for nearly two decades. TBDA is one of the longest running arts awards in the country. Now in its nineteenth year, the awards are the most prestigious prize in Australian ballet today. TBDA has been a career highlight for some of Australian ballet’s biggest stars. The award has traditionally been a great way to spot dancers earmarked for more leading roles: as many as eleven former winners have progressed to Principal Artists.
The TBDA 2022 winners were selected based on their contributions both on and off the stage to the company throughout the year. This year’s judging panel was formed by David Hallberg (Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet), Libby Christie (Executive Director, The Australian Ballet), David Burns (Group Executive, Enterprise for Telstra), Genelle Sharples (Principal, Media, Sponsorships and Awards for Telstra), and Emma Watkins (ballet dancer, performer and former member of The Wiggles).
The five dancers nominated for the 2022 Awards included: Thomas Gannon Corps de Ballet Dancer, Adam Elmes Corps de Ballet Dancer, Lilly Maskery Corps de Ballet Dancer, Rina Nemoto Soloist, and Lucien Xu Coryphée. A nomination is a huge honour for these dancers as it recognizes their hard work and potential as determined by their peers. Nominations are made by the artistic team, the company’s dancers, and past winners.
Biographies of the Award winners
Rina Nemoto was born in Tokyo, Japan, and began dancing at the age of three. At the age of 15, she travelled to Paris for two years of classical ballet training with Daini Kudo and Dominique Khalfouni. In 2009, Rina was awarded a Prix de Lausanne scholarship and joined The Royal Ballet as an apprentice dancer. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2011; she was promoted to coryphée in 2016 and to soloist in 2018. More here: https://australianballet.com.
Lilly Maskery was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand; she began dance classes at the age of three. She trained at the Philippa Campbell School of Ballet and The Australian Ballet School. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2020. More here: https://australianballet.com.
For more information visit: www.telstra.com/ballet
Featured image : Rina Memoto, winner of the 2020 Telstra Ballet Awards