{"id":20041,"date":"2026-02-26T16:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/20041\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:57:14","slug":"day-in-the-life-of-dance-kathryn-bradney-on-the-prestigious-prix-de-lausannes-evolution-and-le-prix-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/20041\/","title":{"rendered":"DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: Kathryn Bradney on the Prestigious Prix de Lausanne’s Evolution and “Le Prix” Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Features<\/a> > Day in the Life of Dance<\/a>The Dance Enthusiast connects to dance behind the scenes with photos, videos + more \n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"DAY\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Published on January 24, 2026
Edwaard Liang and student. Photo: Jonathon Thorpe<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Prix de Lausanne is this February 1 – 8, 2026 at Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kathryn Bradney<\/a> oversees the Prix de Lausanne<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s most prestigious dance competitions. Artistic and executive director since 2018, she has thrived leading an organization that has proven vital to the development of young ballet dancers.\u00a0
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Kathryn Bradney, artistic and executive director of the Prix de Lausanne, speaking at the\u00a0New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Photo: Stacey Menchel Kussell
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\u201cFor me, it is really about a love of dance and a true passion to keep the art form healthy and alive,\u201d said Bradney during a meeting last fall at New York\u2019s Empire Hotel. Bradney, and her team were in Manhattan to present the film Le Prix<\/a>, a documentary celebrating 50 years of the competition.\u00a0
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Le Prix screening\u00a0at the\u00a0New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Photo:\u00a0Stacey Menchel Kussell
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The screening took place on October 11, 2025\u00a0at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and featured a post-screening discussion with Bradney; Stella Abrera<\/a>, a former principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre (ABT); and with four of the Prix de Lausanne\u2019s notable alumni including New York City Ballet\u2019s dancer Chun Wai Chan,<\/a> and ABT\u2019s Paloma Livellara<\/a>, Younjae Park<\/a>, and Natalie Steele<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A beautiful film and moving portrait, Le Prix follows four dancers \u2014\u00a0Luc\u00eda Abril Marcucci and Romina Garcia-V\u00e1squez from Buenos Aires and C\u00f3rdoba, Argentina; Julien Fargeon from Marseille, France; and Darrion Sellman, an American dancer from the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco \u2014\u00a0on their journey preparing for and competing at the week-long event in Vaud, Switzerland.\u00a0
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Darrion Sellman, Prize Winner. Photo: Gregory-Batardon
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The documentary, directed by Alain Wirth<\/a> and Nuria Manzur,<\/a> transports the viewer into the action, channeling the anxiety, excitement, and moments of loss experienced by these dancers during this whirlwind week of ballet. Stunning footage of classes, rehearsals, and performances intermix seamlessly with interviews from past awardees and master teachers such as Friedemann Vogel, Luca Masala, and Armando Braswell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The film effectively opens a window into the detailed organization of the competition and its evolution over the last five decades. Started in 1973 by Swiss watchmaker Philippe Braunschweig and his wife Elvire, the competition\u2019s original mission was to create a launch pad for young dancers, ages 15 to 18, to broaden their professional horizons in the world of ballet. The founders sought to find new talent and give opportunities to dancers from smaller schools who might not have a chance to be seen by international companies.<\/p>\n

Over the last 20 years, the competition has deepened its aims developing relationships with over 40 partner dance companies including American Ballet Theatre Studio Company and the Royal Ballet, and over 30 professional training schools including Accademia Teatro la Scala and the Ailey School.\u00a0
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Edwaard Liang, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet, coaching a partnering class. Photo: Sonia Bartolomeo
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All those participating, regardless of their status in the competition, are provided networking forums and extensive coaching. Most impressively, the Prix has gained significant funding support for scholarships and reported that in 2025, one fourth of the participants received full funding and travel expenses to compete in the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bradney was excited to be back in New York for the screening, as the city is also where she began her career, training with David Howard and dancing with the New York City Opera Company before joining B\u00e9jart Ballet in 1986. She smiled warmly recounting the details of her long career performing with legendary choreographer Maurice B\u00e9jart. She danced with the Swiss-based company for decades and also worked as a teacher and ballet master for the troupe until 2005. She then created her own dance company, Igokat, with her husband Igor Piovano.
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Kathryn Bradney,\u00a0Artistic and\u00a0Executive Director of the Prix de Lausanne,\u00a0in Maurice B\u00e9jart’s\u00a0Bolero\u00a0with\u00a0B\u00e9jart Ballet Lausanne. Photo courtesy of Director\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since becoming director of the Prix, she has pushed for a holistic approach to the competition and helped launch the Young Creation Award in 2021. Realizing the importance of nourishing the next generation of choreographic talent, the award gives a group of young creators the opportunity to set work on their peers. In addition, as part of 2026 program, Edwaard Liang, a former Prix de Lausanne prizewinner and the current director of the Washington Ballet, will run a special choreography workshop with a cast of 27 young dancers selected from the Prix\u2019s partner schools program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prix isn\u2019t just a competition; it is a place to grow and develop as an artist,\u201d said Bradney, and looking to the future she is optimistic. \u201cThe field is evolving, and we want to strengthen it. We want to create as many opportunities as possible for this next generation of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradney expressed that the Prix 2026, which runs from February 1 to 8 at the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, will be a particularly inspiring year. Expanding its wide reach, the competition will host dancers from 18 different countries including the first ever participant from Colombia.\u00a0
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Sylvie Guillem as Kitri in Don Quichotte.\u00a0Photo:\u00a0Gilles Tapie, courtesy Sylvie Guillem.
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The Prix will also feature some unique honors in 2026. \u201cThe competitors have a choice of which variation to perform in the Prix, and several have decided to perform a piece in honor of Louise Deleur,\u201d said Bradney. Deleur is a revered Australian choreographer who passed away in 2023. Another crowd-pleasing addition will be the appearance of Sylvie Guillem, who will attend the Prix to receive a lifetime achievement award during the final ceremonies.<\/p>\n

The Dance Enthusiast\u2019s DAY IN THE LIFE covers the stories behind dance\/performance and creates conversation. For more behind-the-scenes stories from NYC and beyond, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Dance Enthusiast<\/a> – News, Reviews, Interviews and an Open Invitation for YOU to join the Dance Conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Features > Day in the Life of DanceThe Dance Enthusiast connects to dance behind the scenes with photos,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[13141,13140,13150,8175,13143,8177,99,13142,9315,13151,13139,13148,13136,94,13149,13144,13137,13146,7424,13147,13138,13145,330],"class_list":["post-20041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lausanne","tag-a-day-in-the-life","tag-a-day-in-the-life-of-dance","tag-african-dance","tag-ballet","tag-barefootnotes","tag-contemporary-dance","tag-dance","tag-dance-up-close","tag-features","tag-flamenco","tag-from-the-press","tag-hip-hop","tag-impressions","tag-lausanne","tag-modern-dance","tag-nyc-dance","tag-postcards","tag-qa","tag-reviews","tag-tap","tag-the-dance-enthusiast-asks","tag-the-dance-enthusiast-hits-the-streets","tag-video"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}