Isobel Anderson Awards 2025

Monday 24 March 2025 – Thursday 27 March 2025

TBC

Booking Deadline:

Thursday 13 March 2025

Event Date:

Monday 24 March 2025 – Thursday 27 March 2025

Event Time:

TBC

Location:

Sydney (Australia)

Available Online?

Who’s it for?

RAD ballet students from Intermediate Foundation to Advanced 1 who are from NSW. Students must have completed an eligible exam in 2024, to enter the Awards in 2025.

Fee:

$117.50 AUD

Contact:

lpike@rad.org.au

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Exclusive event Sponsor: Bloch

The Royal Academy of Dance is proud to present the Isobel Anderson Awards 2025.

The Royal Academy of Dance invites eligible students to participate in the Isobel Anderson Awards 2025, a prestigious event honouring the legacy of RAD Fellow and ballet pioneer, Isobel Anderson.

This event is designed to:

Build confidence in performance settings.
Provide additional performance opportunities.
Prepare candidates for international dance competitions.

Students will gain valuable experience performing in graded and open classes, working with peers and guest teachers, and showcasing their talent. Prior to submitting an entry, all candidates, parents and teachers should ensure they have read the event flyer, including the conditions for entry, in full. You will be required to confirm you have read, understand, and agree to abide by these conditions prior to submitting your entry.

Preliminary Classes: 24-27 March 2025
Venue: RAD Australia, 20 Farrell Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Tentative Schedule (subject to change):

Intermediate Foundation Preliminaries: Monday 24 March
Intermediate Preliminaries: Tuesday 25 March
Advanced Foundation Preliminaries: Wednesday 26 March
Advanced 1 Preliminaries: Thursday 27 March

Semi-finals Classes: Friday 28 March 2025

Venue: RAD Australia, 20 Farrell Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Schedule: TBA after the closing date

Commissioned Choreography Workshop: Sunday 30 March 2025 (Finalists only)

Venue: RAD Australia, 20 Farrell Street Darlinghurst NSW 2010.

Schedule: TBA after the semi-finals

Finals: Sunday 6 April 2025

Venue: Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, City Road & Cleveland Street Chippendale NSW 2008

Download more information.

Medical information:
Please complete our medical form prior to attending this event.

Booking deadline: Thursday 13 March 2025 11.59pm AEDT

Adjudicator:

Melissa McCabe

Born in Sydney, Melissa trained at the Tanya Pearson classical coaching academy before being accepted into The Australian Ballet School. Receiving regular accolades during her time at the ABS, Melissa was later offered a position in The Australian Ballet upon her graduation. Recognising the need to gain experience abroad, Mel headed west to West Australian Ballet, before accepting a position with Alberta Ballet Company in Canada. Since returning to West Australian Ballet in 2012 Mel has performed Principal and Soloist roles in a variety of productions, as well as choreographing for the company and individuals. Mel’s stand out roles include Olga in John Crankos Onegin, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Myrtle in David Nixon’s The Great Gatsby, for which she was nominated for a Helpmann Award, & Lucy in Krzysztof Pastors award winning Dracula. Mel featured in Dance Australia as ‘The Most Outstanding Dancer Award’ and Dancer to watch for her role as Myrtle and Lucy. Melissa was also a Bloch Artiste and works closely with the brand recently doing a photoshoot in Sydney with her baby daughter. Mel retired at the end of 2021 and is loving staying connected to the ballet/dance world with coaching, teaching, adjudicating and choreographing for events.

Class Teacher:

Mitchell Rayner

Mitchell began formal dance lessons in Newcastle at the age of 13 studying classical, jazz, contemporary and character dance, before taking up full-time dance studies with Tessa Maunder OAM. He joined The Australian Ballet School in 2005 where after 3 years of study he obtained an Advanced Diploma of Dance. In 2008 Mitchell secured a contract with The Australian Ballet, where he danced for eight years. Following retirement from The Australian Ballet in 2016 he chose to share his professional experience with others through teaching and mentoring. He attained the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate and is a registered RAD teacher. Mitchell has taught for Sydney Dance Company, The Australian Ballet, The Royal Academy of Dance, Ballet Without Borders, Brent Street, Pymble Ladies’ College and Tanya Pearson Academy. In addition to teaching, he has also recently launched his own clothing brand, Live In The Movement.

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