3 May 2023
The Theatre Bursary Awards took place in February at the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford. Each performer present on the day was nominated to represent a faculty because of winning recent ISTD faculty events. The main performances on the day were adjudicated by respected leaders of the dance industry including Elly Brand, Dollie Henry MBE and Dincer Solomon.
The day comprised of a theatre examiners’ reception where the latest guidelines, policies and updates were discussed, followed by a wonderful afternoon tea and a great opportunity to catch up between fellow examiners. The afternoon was topped off with solo performances from all nominees, with special guests performances from ISTD schools, Dupont Dance Stage School and Mayhew School of Dance as well as Redbridge Dance and Drama Centre, who are closely linked to the Theatre. The afternoon concluded with an awards ceremony for the winners and commendations– awarded by the adjudicators. As part of the ISTD’s charitable status, the winning dancers will receive financial bursaries to support their future training, and teachers of nominated students will receive a bursary to fund development opportunities and community activity.
Kristen-Leigh Petit, Junior Commendation for Modern Theatre reflected on her win, “I feel a great sense of achievement and I’m so thankful to the ISTD, the judges and also to my teachers who have helped get me here. The money will help with my continued training, to be able to enter intensives and events, which I may not have been able to enter before, and to assist me with things that sometimes are not attainable, which will help me pursue my dream and career in dance."
Winners from the day’s celebrations:
Senior Winner: Cameron Jones (Nazene Langfield,
Nazene Danielle’s Dance Dynamix), Modern Theatre
Junior Winner: Relinda Kozol (Astrid Sherman,
Poirier Productions), Imperial Classical Ballet
Senior Commendation: Gabriel Pimparel
(Teresa Vieira, Centro de Dança do
Porto), Imperial Classical Ballet
Junior Commendation: Kristen-Leigh Petit
(Jody Eccles Squirrell and Louise Harrison,
Ignite Dance Company), Modern Theatre
“I feel a great sense of achievement and I’m so thankful to the ISTD, the judges and also to my teachers who have helped get me here. The money will help with my continued training, to be able to enter intensives and events, which I may not have been able to enter before, and to assist me with things that sometimes are not attainable, which will help me pursue my dream and career in dance."
Kristen-Leigh Petit, Junior Commendation
Exceptional performances
The ISTD’s Director of Dance, Liz Dale, said, “watching young people dancing today has been joyous and it’s uplifting to see live performances again and celebrate what joins us all together – dance”. Michaela Stannard, Head of Projects and Strategic Events at the ISTD said: “The quality of the dancers is exceptional, you’d never know that there has been a pandemic, and training was interrupted. This event aims to celebrate not only the quality of our dancers and their ISTD teachers, but also to celebrate the sheer variety of our genres with schools and performers
travelling to the event from across the world.”
Ginny Brown, ISTD Chief Executive, highlighted the importance of connecting and networking with other dancers and teachers and reflected on the ISTD’s bursary offerings: “It’s been great to see everyone come together from a variety of genres and international stages to compete. The most exciting aspect of these awards is that students and their teachers receive bursaries to further their development and, in turn, grow the dance opportunities in their local communities. I would really encourage to all students and their teachers to enter our faculty awards, which feed into this prestigious event.”
Testimonials from the day
Relinda Kozol, Junior winner - "I feel so honoured and grateful to have been awarded the Junior Bursary winner and Joan Durrant award. I’m so thankful for this opportunity and will be using my Bursary towards my Summer intensive at the English national ballet school Thank you again."
Kristen-Leigh Petit, Junior Commendation - “I feel a great sense of achievement and I’m so thankful to the ISTD, the judges and also to my teachers who have helped get me here. The money will help with my continued training, to be able to enter intensives and events, which I may not have been able to enter before, and to assist me with things that sometimes are not attainable, which will help me pursue my dream and career in dance."
Gabriel Pimparel, Senior Commendation - "I am so grateful for having received this award, I had the best experience ever at the ISTD Bursary Awards. I am planning on using the bursary funds to support audition costs next year. I am sure they will be extremely helpful and I appreciate it a lot!"
Cameron Jones, Senior Winner - "It is such a honour to win this award at such a prestigious event with so many other talented performers. I'm hoping to use the bursary towards singing/vocal training or workshops/masterclasses. Thank you to everyone at ISTD, adjudicators and my teacher Nazene."
View a selection of imagery from the event here:
Find out more about our bursaries here.
