Prix Ludmilla - Spotlight on the winners

Our students' excellence and perseverance were on display at the 8th edition of the Prix Ludmilla, held at the École supérieure de ballet du Québec on February 23 and 24, 2024!
In this annual competition, 66 students from the Intermediate, Advanced and Superior cycles presented a classical variation to a jury of professionals including Pierre Lapointe, president of this year's jury and former ballet master with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Margret Kaufman, former ballet master and former assistant artistic director with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Shawn Hounsell, choreographer, teacher since 2023 and former dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. And finally, we were honoured by the presence of Katia Mead, Madame Chiriaeff's youngest child and honorary president of our foundation's fundraising campaign.

This year, Alice Fortin, Victoria Villegas Azuaje and Katrina Lungu stood out by winning the Ludmilla 2024 Award!

© ESBQ - Éléonore Lussier-Thuot

The Coup de cœur du jury mention was also awarded to Maxime Coulombe (Intermediary I cycle), Valéria Matte-Milosserdov (Advanced IV cycle), Héloïse Léveillé (Advanced V cycle), Ève Dupuis (Superior I cycle) and Emma Perron (Superior I cycle).

© ESBQ - Éléonore Lussier-Thuot

Some twenty other young people also received commendations for their musicality, interpretation, arm carriage, lower-leg work or technical skills.

Mention meilleure interprétation :
- Yihan Chen (Intermediary I cycle)
- Louisiane Martin (Intermediary III cycle)
- Annabelle Li (Advanced IV cycle)
- Arina Rudenko (Advanced V cycle)
- Anaelle Carette (Superior III cycle)

Mention meilleure musicalité :
- Maïté Ribeiro Vargas (Intermediary I cycle)
- Mariya Kapush (Intermediary II cycle)
- Zoé Harvey (Advanced IV cycle)
- Ana Louisa Collazo Kelly (Advanced V cycle)
- Alexane Dépelteau-Lacassagne (Superior I cycle)

Mention meilleur port de bras :
- Miya Capuano (Intermediary II cycle)

Mention meilleur travail de bas de jambe :
- Bella Gagnon (Intermediary I cycle)
- Chloé Deslandes (Advanced V cycle)
- Natasha Pazhouhandeh-Asl (Superior I cycle)

Mention meilleur travail technique :
- Nahla Desrosiers-Ouassif (Intermediary I cycle)
- Rosemarie Brousseau (Intermediary II cycle)
- Alicia Grégoire (Advanced IV cycle)
- Valentina Ortega Baez (Advanced IV cycle)
- Maëlys Dauplet-Lalaus (Advanced V cycle)
- Clémence Lacasse (Superior I cycle)
- Ana Sofia Natera Marquez (Superior III cycle)

Finally, all the performers who received a jury mention presented their variations to their loved ones at the Prix Ludmilla Gala held on Saturday, February 24 in the École supérieure's Ludmilla-Chiriaeff studio.

Bravo to all of you for giving your all in this competition!

© ESBQ - Anne Dryburgh