CONTENDING WITH COMPS
DANCE competitions are far from new, but their more recent ability to launch careers through television reality shows, film documentaries and social media has multitudes jumping on the bandwagon.
The world of professional classical ballet, with its predominantly company-based structure, is somewhat impervious to the impact of such phenomena. But, with the Youth America Grand Prix – documented in the award-winning 2011 feature First Position – coming to Australia for the first time in 2019, it’s opportune to examine the real benefit of such competitions, especially for those who might be thinking they present a short-cut or guarantee to a professional career in ballet.
Certainly First Position’s six featured contestants had the eyes of the world on them after the film’s release. Five of them went on as expected, to join professional ballet companies: Miko Fogarty, Aran Bell, Michaela DePrince, Joann Sebastian Zamora and Rebecca Houseknecht.
Fogarty entered Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) corps at 18 in 2015, after claiming several prestigious international ballet competition medals, including gold at Moscow in 2013 and silver at Varna in 2014.
