AHA 2019
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RENCH SORIANO STARS IN WASHINGTON BALLET
RENCH SORIANO (former student of NZSD) is making his debut as the Snow King with The Washington Ballet USA
ALFIE SHACKLOCK
Former Student of
The Dance Centre Peregian Springs Queensland
AHA Supreme A Group Winner 2019 & Junior winner 2017
Audience Choice A Group 2019
Currently at
The Royal Ballet School London
Royal Ballet School's 'Excellence Award' 2021
Alfie writes …..
Since my attendance at the Alana Haines awards in April 2019 and having been awarded the Gailene Stock Award for 2019 I have been able to use the award to assist and support me further in my dance training.
Having been offered a place at the Royal Ballet Upper School in Convent Garden London, I commenced my training in September 2020 the course is a 3-year degree course which I hope will lead to a professional contract in a leading Ballet company.
The Royal Ballet School is an amazing school and I have learnt so much, each day is challenging and rewarding and the days are long but I have made so many new friends from all over the world and the teachers are so supportive and get the best out of you every day.
Dancing at an overseas ballet school has been challenging during these difficult times but I have managed to return to Australia for a holiday in July 2021 and dance at my old ballet school The Dance Centre Peregian Springs Queensland, and see all my friends.
My first year at Royal has gone so quickly and I was so happy and surprised to receive the end of year award for excellence and endeavour and also to be selected to perform a solo in the end of year shows. I danced the 1st male peasant pas variation from act 1 of Giselle.
As a year group we had the amazing opportunity to dance at the Lindbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden as well as in studio performances at school.
Our end of year performance was on the main stage at the Royal Opera House.
I have since returned to start my 2nd year at the school. Again I am enjoying every minute of my time at Royal everyday I realise how lucky I am to be able to follow my dream and be a student at this school.
I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Katie and all the team at the Alana Haines Awards for their hard work and all you have done for me and other dancers.
Attending 2 AHA awards has been amazing for me and so much fun and I will always be grateful for the support of the AHA Trust, which has helped me to follow my dreams and travel to London.
I look forward to watching the next AHA Awards in 2023.
RENCH SORIANO
New Zealand School of Dance
AHA Supreme B Group Winner
Audience Choice 2019
Currently a professional dancer at
Washington Ballet USA
http://rench-soriano-at-washington-ballet
TIRION LAW
Former International Student
Asian Grand Prix winner 2012
AHA Awards
Supreme Finalist 2013 & 1st Runner-up 2015
Currently with
The National Ballet of Canada
Tirion Law was born in Hong Kong and trained at The New Zealand School of Dance. Ms. Law danced with the Hong Kong Ballet joined The National Ballet of Canada as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 2018.
Ms. Law's repertoire with the Hong Kong Ballet includes Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Pinocchio, Coppèlia, Don Quixote, Lady of the Camellias, Le Corsaire, Sechs Tanze and Serenade.
In 2010, Ms. Law was awarded two gold medals at The Star Award Competition in Hong Kong and in 2012 the winner of Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong. In 2015, Ms. Law was the first runner up at the Alana Haines Australasian Ballet Competition.
https://hkdancemagazine.com/stories/2020/5/30/soaring-beyond-borders-dancer-tirion-laws-journey-from-hong-kong-to-the-national-ballet-of-canada
INDIA SHACKEL
Student of
Fiona Haines Dance Academy, New Zealand
2 Week Scholarship to the Tanya Pearson Academy
India writes …..
In late February, I visited the Tanya Pearson Academy on a two week scholarship thanks to the AHA Awards.
I spent two weeks training in their full time program and from those two weeks I learnt so much and met so many amazing dancers. All of the teachers at the academy provided such a different approach to teaching and inspiring us dancers, and I feel that I gained so much technically and artistically from this experience!
During my visit I took various classes as a part of the full time program including, classical class, pointe, repertoire, contemporary, character, pas de deux, conditioning and TLB. I loved learning from various different teachers throughout my two weeks at TPA. Every morning we took classical open classes taught by Miss Catherine, during this class we focused a lot on the quality of our movement, placement of the weight and alignment of our upper body and shoulders in particular. I found these classes so beneficial towards my technique and strength as well and focusing on the implementation of artistry into our work.
Something that really stood out to me from my visit would have to be learning from Miss Dunn, a piece from the white swan pas de deux from "Swan Lake." When learning this repertoire, we focused a lot on the artistry between partners to help portray the story as well as working to perform the steps with correct technique and placement. It was so inspiring to have the opportunity to learn from Miss Dunn, and I feel that her feedback was so helpful to further my knowledge.
I absolutely loved my time training at Tanya Pearson Academy in Australia, there was such a wide range of wonderful teachers who all had something different to offer, and I feel that I benefited so much from every class that I took while there.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Katie Haines and the Alana Haines Australasian Awards for providing young dancers these incredible opportunities to further our training and experience. I would also like to thank Miss Dunn and all of the faculty and students at the Tanya Pearson Academy for providing me with so much knowledge to further my training, and also making me feel so welcome during my visit.
The Dance Centre Peregian Springs
Alana Haines Gailene Stock Award Winner 2019
Alfie writes ….
I was initially awarded a scholarship to the Harrid conservatory in Florida but was unfortunately unable to attend as I was committed to attend the Royal Ballet Summer intensive 2019 at White lodge. The 2 weeks spent at the RBS included boarding at White Lodge which was truly wonderful as I met great dancers from all over the world and made many new friends. I had a busy dance schedule and learnt so much in my time at the RBS and was so excited to dance in the amazing studios.
As a result of attending the summer school I was lucky enough to be offered a place at the RBS final auditions in March 2020 to audition for a place at the Upper School in Covent Garden London starting in September 2020.
In November 2019 I received the exciting news that I had been selected a candidate for the 48th edition of the Prix de Lausanne having completed a video audition. It had always been a dream of mine to attend a 'Prix' and the Gailene Stock award helped in funding my trip to Switzerland in February 2020.
It was truly a life changing experience from the amazing classes and the on-stage training to the scholarship classes and performing on stage. I also I met so many wonderful talented dancers from all over the world.
As a result of my attendance I had some wonderful offers from some amazing schools.
In March 2020 I attended the Royal Ballet School Final Audition in Covent Garden London this was held over two days. Again, I learnt so much and loved the classes although I was quite nervous, I was very happy with how it went.
A few days later I received the wonderful news I had been accepted into the first year of Upper school training which is due to commence this September.
I know these are difficult times for all students, dance schools and ballet companies, but we will get back to what we love doing so much soon.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Katie and all the team at the Alana Haines Awards for their hard work and all you have done for me and all dancers. I will always remember my 2 visits to AHA with my dance friends as a truly special time.
I would like to wish all the future students at AHA all the best, and I look forward to watching the next AHA awards were ever I may be.
I will be forever grateful and humbled by my awards which have allowed me to follow my dreams.
JEMIMA SCOTT
Mt Eden Ballet Academy
Auckland NZ
AHA 3rd Supreme B Group 2019
Scholarship to
Bottaini Merlo International Centre of the Arts
Munich Germany
Jemima writes ….
I was in Munich for 6 weeks at the Bottaini Merlo international centre of arts. I have now had to come home due to the coved-19 outbreak. I would love to say a huge thank you to Lisa-Maree Cullum and AHA awards for providing me with this amazing opportunity.
The training at BMICA was amazing with beautiful studios and great faculty, Munich is also a gorgeous city! I lived in a boarding house provided by BMICA with other girls who were training with me. The house is really big, warm and homely.
Each day we would begin with a 2 hour ballet class and then go into other things such as pointe, character, repertoire, pas de deux, jazz and contemporary there was also anatomy classes. On the 7th of March we had a performance.
I was lucky enough to dance as a Big Swan in Swan Lake, a solo in Paquita and in a group contemporary piece. It was so great to perform in such a variety of different dance styles and dance major roles that are danced by professionals in ballet companies.
The teachers provided such an amazing load of knowledge and all wanted what was best for me. Lisa-Maree was so welcoming to me in Munich and I am very grateful for her along with Alen Bottaini, Leonor De Tavora and Monica Merlo.
I thoroughly enjoyed the time I had in Munich and hope that all this coved-19 stuff clears! Once again thank you AHA awards.
OSCAR COWIE
Philippa Campbell School of Ballet
AHA Awards Junior Semi-Finalist 2019
Alegria Summer School
Recipient writes ….
Thank you for accepting me for your Alegria Summer School. I was honoured to be offered a Scholarship through the Alana Haines Australasian Award. Your Summer School really impacted my dancing and your teaching styles just clicked for me. I had never tried Jazz or Contemporary before your Summer School, and while at first I found them both a bit overwhelming, I became more confident with the classes towards the end. I have taken up Contemporary classes at my own school and am enjoying them much more than I thought I would. I especially enjoyed the Classical and Variation classes that you provided in the course.
Thank you very much for your support and care during my week with you.
PARIS-LILY FOSTER
AHA Junior Finalist 2019
Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy
Paris-Lily writes…..
From February 3rd-15th, 2020, I attended Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy's Fulltime training programme on the Gold Coast. I was so excited and extremely grateful to be awarded this opportunity after making the Junior finals at the Alana Haines Awards Competition. Thank-you so much to everyone involved, especially my teachers, the Judges, the AHA committee and of course Amanda Bollinger for providing such a generous and amazing experience.
My two weeks at Amanda Bollinger Dance Academy was so inspiring-I loved every minute! Unfortunately, as my visit coincided with the Prix de Lausanne I didn't get to personally meet Amanda who was there with her students, however I am so thankful to her for everything she did prior to my visit to ensure it ran smoothly and to everyone, for being so incredibly welcoming and supportive.
Each day of my two-week visit consisted of a variety of different classes some of which I had never done before. These included; Classical Ballet, Pointe, Repertoire, Pas de Deux, Character Dance, Contemporary, Jazz, Improvisation, Body Conditioning, Yoga, Cardio, and Pilates. The studio itself was so lovely with three dance rooms and a large common area just for the students. I thought it was great how the fulltime students were rostered on each day to help with keeping the studio clean and organised!
Although the programme was quite demanding for me not having done fulltime training before, I really, really enjoyed the challenge and especially loved the Classical classes. These were taught by three different teachers; Layla Burgess, Kate Joubert and Guy Wheatstone. Each teacher was so encouraging and worked hard on developing our technique & artistry and I feel I personally learnt so much from their classes and grew as a dancer not only technically but in my confidence and presentation.
Thank you again to the AHA committee everything you do for aspiring dancers and for generously covering my airfares and to Amanda Bollinger for her generous sponsorship. I hope to return again one day soon and catch up with all my new dance friends and look forward to seeing everyone at the next Alana Haines Competition.
Photo is of Rench Soriano rehearsing Balanchine's 'Allegro Brillante' with The Washington Ballet and guest artist Marcelo Gomes.
Video of Rench https://www.facebook.com/renchisaac.soriano/videos/pcb.1567099360140349/1567098053473813/?type=3&theater
AHA Awards Registered Charitable Trust
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Contact Katie for other queries or sponsorship with the contacts below.
Katie Haines
37 Hathaway Ave, Karori, Wellington 6012 New Zealand
Ph +64 4 9760581
Mob: 021 1469571
St James Theatre Wellington
© AHA AWARDS 2021