geschrieben von Concerned and Outraged  am 01.02. um 19:00:15

This is a general call to disband the Prix de Lausanne dance competition, or for the Committee to truly introduce some ethics and integrity. After observing the competition of 2004, it is clear that the competition is not about artistry or dance, but about connections and politics. How transparent that a contestant associated with the Jury President (pays for and trains in their summer program) falls in the Semi-Finals (it is questionable based on her performance that she should have even been advanced to the quarter finals) and is subsequently advanced to the Finals over many more talented dancers. This is especially disturbing since it is also abundantly clear that the Jury President is trying to build a company from Prix finalists. It is discouraging and disheartening that fellow jurors have chosen to collude and go along with this ruse. It is also insulting to those who watched - that it was so blatant and in your face, as if he was thumbing his nose at the integrity of what the competition should be (but is not) about.

Promises made by the Prix Committee were not kept. All the artistic directors that were promised to observe class for those who did not make it to the semi-finals, left before many of the girls danced. My comments to these individuals: Why did you bother showing up in the first place? You are all a pretty pathetic group of professionals. Many girls were given feedback that made one wonder whether the judges watched the competitions, or are truly without any measure of artistic competence. Where is the integrity? If it is not about artistry (which apparently it is not), just be honest.

I had heard for years the Prix was about politics, and "rigged." I foolishly chose not to believe it. Is it any wonder dancers from the more prestigious schools do not compete here? It is about connections, politics, quotas and little else. How absurd!

Spare those you love the hurt (and tremendous expense) of attending and competing. They have absolutely no chance unless they have a connection with one of the judges. We saw many girls, broken-hearted in failing to make the cut - and they had no reason to feel bad as they actually danced better that many of the ones that were moved on. I would at this point, make a comment that there were talented girls who were advanced. But the process was flawed, uneven and unfair at best. This continues to advance many of the things that are wrong in the ballet world - a very sick and abusive world to women. It is about control through intimidation, ego and self-esteem assault. Power truly corrupts.

For those inclined to believe this is sour grapes, look into the competition for yourself. Disgust, I believe, would be a better word. This could be an anomaly, a year with incompetent jurors. I don't know. But even so, the Prix Committee needs to take some huge steps back and fix a very broken process.

As stated on the Prix website:

The Prix de Lausanne is unique in the world, as its mission and specific purpose is to reveal the talent of very young dancers still in training, who have the potential to become excellent professionals.

Based on recent observations, the last sentence should more accurately read “…., who have strong connections to members of the jury.” There are many girls who have the potential to become excellent professionals that were not recognized and judged so by a less than impartial jury.

The way around this is to make the competition what they (The Prix) say it is. And to do this, they must find competent, impartial, ethical and integritous jurors. I am sure some of the current members of the jury fit this description, but in this case the whole is a lot less than the sum of its parts. The clear result is flawed and very imperfect. Ice Skating has, for the most part, cleaned up its act. Why can’t ballet? Small-minded people must be swept from the system.

Make ballet about the art, not about some flawed view of technique, personal connections, or a distorted and disturbing picture of a perfect body. It is time for ballet to mature artistically and intellectually.

So to the Prix de Lausanne: Disband - or clean up your act!