Amy Harris. Photo Ted Sealy
On Friday 30 November 2012 Senior Artist Amy Harris was crowned the 2012 Telstra Ballet Award winner in front of a sold-out audience at the Sydney Opera House, following the opening night performance of Stephen Baynes’ Swan Lake.
Amy’s win is a case of third time lucky, with previous nominations for the esteemed Award in 2008 and 2010. In both of those years she took home the public-voted Telstra People’s Choice Award, but this is the first time she has won the main accolade.
She receives a $20,000 cash prize awarded by Principal Sponsor Telstra.
The 2012 Telstra People’s Choice trophy and $5000 cash prize was won by Jake Mangakahia, from the corps de ballet. Jake’s natural star quality and stage presence garnered him many fans, despite it being only his second year in the company.
The Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet David McAllister congratulated Amy and Jake on their accomplishments.
“Bravo to our talented winners! They have both shown tremendous growth as performers this past year, wowing audiences and their fellow dancers with their artistry and technique. I’m so proud of them ”.
Amy won the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award after being judged as outstanding on numerous criteria over the course of 2012.
This year’s TBDA judging panel was comprised of David McAllister (Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet), Valerie Wilder (Executive Director, The Australian Ballet), Danilo Radojevic (Associate Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet), Mark Buckman (Chief Marketing Officer, Telstra), Airlie Walsh (Reporter, Weekend TODAY) and Toni Matičevski (Fashion Designer).
The other TBDA nominees for 2012 were Dimity Azoury, Calvin Hannaford, Ako Kondo, and Jarryd Madden, all of whom gave exquisite performances throughout the year.
Congratulations to Amy and Jake from everyone at The Australian Ballet!
