28 March 2023 19:30

Announcing the Winners of the Joan & Monica Halliday and Isobel Anderson Awards 2023

We are pleased to announce the Winners of the Joan & Monica Halliday and Isobel Anderson Awards 2023.

We’d like to congratulate all students who took part in the awards held at the Everest Theatre in the Seymour Centre, and thank their teachers for the help with preparing them to participate. We’d also like to thank their families and friends for their support, both in the lead-up to the event and by showing their appreciation in the audience on the day.

Adjudicator Brooke Cassen (Lockett) had the pleasure of selecting our winners for the Isobel Anderson Awards and Susan Hill the pleasure of awarding the Joan & Monica Halliday winners. Both adjudicators remarked on the excellent personal presentation and high calibre of performances seen with students rising to the occasion in the theatre admirably.

We were thrilled to have Awards Commissioned Choreographer Francesco Ventriglia, Artistic Director of Sydney Choreographic Centre create three unique variations which saw students express their artistry and performance skills alongside their classwork and classical variations. Sydney Dance Company has generously provided 2 scholarships for our Commissioned Choreography Prize winners, one from the Joan & Monica Halliday Awards, and one from the Isobel Anderson Awards

On Saturday at the Joan & Monica Halliday Awards we featured three guest performers, Holly Robinson (The Academy, and The McDonald College), Mahalia Adamson (Andrea Rowsell Academy of Dance) and Ella Brownlow-Ziirsen (Alegria Dance Studios) in performances that delighted both the audience and adjudicator. Students from all over NSW joined us on Sunday as the guest performers in the Isobel Anderson Awards in a Musical Theatre Presentation 'Trends' choreographed by BJ and Aeysha Rorke from the NXTGEN Project.

Both events were photographed by Robyn at Winkipop Media, and we are grateful for the beautiful images captured throughout the weekend.

Before announcing all the winners, we’d like to acknowledge our 2023 Exclusive Sponsor of these Awards, Bloch. We are so grateful for their support in helping us bring together these fantastic events for our students. We are also grateful for the assistance of the New South Wales Regional Advisory Panel and our many volunteers and support staff who helped this huge event run smoothly over the many weeks of preliminaries, semi-finals, and the finals.

The program from the weekend events can be downloaded here, and here in adapted format for the visually impaired.

Joan & Monica Halliday Award Winners:

Grade 3 Winner: Annalyse Macgonigal - JWDA

Grade 3 Runner Up: Lucy Miller – L’Academie

Grade 3 Encouragement Award: Liam Forsyth -  Sonja Dene Dance Studios

 

Grade 4 Winner: Milania Franklin - The Dance Spot (Milania Franklin sat her Grade 4 Exam with The Ballet Class)

Grade 4 Runner Up: Wahta Handy - Studi-O Dance

Grade 4 Encouragement: Jada Mostyn - Studi-O Dance

 

Grade 5 Winner: Florence Hanks Ruttyn - The Conlan College)

Grade 5 Runner Up: Ruby Bernadine - The Academy

Grade 5 Encouragement Award: Elih Egan - Stockton’s Bella Ballerina’s

 

Commissioned Choreography Award: Macey Moore - Ballet Classique

Joan & Monica Halliday Award for Most Outstanding Dancer: Alexandra Pupovac - Robyn Kirkland School of Ballet

Pictured: Finalists and Winners of the Joan & Monica Halliday Awards

Isobel Anderson Award Winners:

Intermediate Foundation Winner:  Scarlett Weaver – Dance North

Intermediate Foundation Runner up: Ivy Maughan  - Ablaze Dance Academy

Intermediate Foundation Encouragement : Madeleine Konstantakos – The McDonald College

 

Intermediate Winner: Ava Micallef – The McDonald College

Intermediate Runner Up: Bonni Bolam – TJS Dance Academy

Intermediate Encouragement: Kate Connelly – Tanya Pearson Academy

 

Advanced Foundation Winner: Freya Wild – L’Academe

Advanced Foundation Runner Up: Dante Minassian – Redlands Ballet & Dance Academy

Advanced Foundation Encouragement: Charlize Portes-Green – The McDonald College

 

Advanced 1 winner: Pelagia Karakontis – The Dance Spot

Advanced 1Runner up: Henry Burgess – The McDonald College

Advanced 1 Encouragement: Charlie Carberry – The McDonald College

 

Commissioned Choreography Award– Aurelia Beal-Attwood

Isobel Anderson Awards Most Outstanding Dancer: Oriel Santoso – The McDonald College

Pictured: Award Winners of the Isobel Anderson Awards

For further enquiries please contact:

Laura Pike – Regional Manager
e: lpike@rad.org.au
t: (02) 9380 1906

Caitlin Halmarick – Regional Coordinator
e: chalmarick@rad.org.au
t: 0401 098 106