Spotlight on Rising Stars: Get Ready for Emerging Dancer 2024

What is Emerging Dancer?

Emerging Dancer is a celebration of the talent, dedication and artistry of ballet dancers, and shines a spotlight on six rising stars of English National Ballet.

Each year, dancers and staff members of English National Ballet vote to nominate six dancers to take part. The nominees are selected based on the quality of their performances, potential, and value as a member of the Company.

At the event, the nominees showcase their technical accomplishments, artistry, and unique interpretations of repertoire classics and new choreography in front of a panel of judges, with one of them receiving the Emerging Dancer award.

This is an opportunity for the nominees to shine, and a chance for audiences to get to know them better, and to see how far their hard work and dedication has taken them.

Emerging Dancer began in 2010, under then Artistic Director Wayne Eagling. 2024 marks the 13th edition.

Who is taking part in Emerging Dancer 2024?

The 2024 nominees are:

• Anna Ciriano
• Breanna Foad
• Shunhei Fuchiyama
• Jose Maria Lorca Menchon
• Thiago Pereira
• Anna-Babette Winkler

Learn more about each of them here.

What will they dance?

Anna-Babette Winkler and Jose María Lorca Menchón will perform an excerpt from La Bayadère (Gamzatti and Solor) and the final duet from Akram Khan’s Dust. They will work with Repetiteur Mavin Khoo and be mentored by Lead Principal Erina Takahashi and First Soloists James Streeter and Junor Souza.

Breanna Foad and Thiago Pereira will dance a pas de deux from Satanella, and will perform a new contemporary work by Choreographer Ching-Ying Chien. They will be mentored by Lead Principals Fernanda Oliveira and Francesco Gabriele Frola, and First Soloist Daniel McCormick.

Anna Ciriano and Shunhei Fuchiyama will present a pas de deux from Don Quixote, and will be mentored by Lead Principal Shiori Kase, First Soloist Ken Saruhashi, and Artists Lucinda Strachan and Ashley Coupal. English National Ballet dancers Rentaro Nakaaki and Fabian Reimair will create the choreography and music respectively for a new contemporary work.

There will also be a special performance from 2022’s Emerging Dancer winner Eric Snyder and People’s Choice winner Precious Adams in a pas de deux from Delibes Suite by José Carlos Martínez.

Who are the judges?

Emerging Dancer 2024 will be hosted by our Artistic Director, Aaron S. Watkin. This year’s esteemed judging panel comprises:

• Amanda Britton MA, dancer with Rambert (1984 – 1993), Chief Executive, Principal and Artistic Director of Rambert School
• Isabela Coracy, dancer with Ballet Black, and winner of the 2024 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance
• Monica Zamora, dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet (1991 – 2003), teacher
• Edward Watson MBE, dancer with the Royal Ballet (1994 – 2020), repetiteur

Which awards are announced at Emerging Dancer?

One of the six finalists will receive the Emerging Dancer prize, as selected by the jury on the night.

The recipients of the People’s Choice Award, as voted for by audiences throughout the Season, and the Corps de Ballet Award, which acknowledges the work on and off-stage of an Artist of the Company, will also be announced.

How can I watch Emerging Dancer 2024?

Tickets are on sale for the live performance on Friday 24 May at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.

The event will be streamed online, for free, from Thursday 30 May. It will be available to watch on English National Ballet’s YouTube channel for 30 days.

Ahead of the final, enjoy this performance from the winner of the last edition, Eric Snyder:

Emerging Dancer is supported by CHANEL

The People’s Choice Award is supported by Alexis and Frances Prenn