English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer finalists are…

Precious Adams in Elite Syncopations ©ROH, 2017. Photographed by Bill Cooper

English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer competition will be held at the London Coliseum for the first time on 11 June 2018.

Through this annual event, English National Ballet recognises the excellence of its artists. Selected by their peers, six of the company’s most promising dancers perform in front of an eminent panel of expert judges, before one receives the 2018 Emerging Dancer Award.

The recipients of the People’s Choice Award, selected by members of the public, and the Corps de Ballet Award, acknowledging the work on and off-stage of a member of the Corps de Ballet, will also be revealed.

Emerging Dancer is a key part of English National Ballet’s commitment to developing and nurturing talent within the company. Last year’s joint Emerging Dancer Award winners, Aitor Arrieta and Rina Kanehara, have since been promoted to Soloist and Junior Soloist respectively and have gone on to perform principal roles in Nutcracker, Akram Khan’sGiselle, La Sylphide and Song of the Earth.

The 2018 finalists are:

Precious Adams

Trained at the National Ballet School of Canada; Academy Princess Grace Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Moscow, Adams joined English National Ballet following her double prize win at the Prix de Lausanne in 2014. She was promoted to First Artist in 2017 and has danced with the company in works including William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Pina Bausch’s Le sacre du printemps, Song of the Earth, and recently in Elite Syncopations at the Royal Opera House as part of ‘Kenneth MacMillan: A National Celebration’.

Precious Adams in Elite Syncopations ©ROH, 2017. Photographed by Bill Cooper
Precious Adams in Elite Syncopations ©ROH, 2017. Photographed by Bill Cooper

Fernando Carratalá Coloma

Coloma joined English National Ballet in 2017 as an Artist of the Company, having previously danced with Victor Ullate Ballet in Spain. Since joining the company, he has performed the principal roles of Nutcracker, and as the Messenger of Death in Song of the Earth.

Fernando Carratalá Coloma in Song of the Earth © Laurent Liotardo
Fernando Carratalá Coloma in Song of the Earth © Laurent Liotardo

Giorgio Garrett

Garrett trained at Palma’s Conservatoire of Music and Dance and at the Royal Ballet School. He joined English National Ballet as an Artist of the Company in 2016 from The National Ballet of Canada. In 2011, Giorgio was awarded the ‘Encouragement and Potential Award’ at Young British Dancer of the Year, followed by the ‘Commendation Award’ in 2012. Giorgio has danced with English National Ballet in works including Akram Khan’s GiselleRomeo & Juliet, NutcrackerSong of the Earth and La Sylphide in which he danced the role of Gurn.

Stina Quagebeur, Anjuli Hudson, Giorgio Garrett in La Sylpihde © Laurent Liotardo
Stina Quagebeur, Anjuli Hudson, Giorgio Garrett in La Sylpihde © Laurent Liotardo

Daniel McCormick

Having trained with Ballet San Jose School, San Francisco Ballet School and Houston Ballet School, McCormick danced with Houston Ballet before joining English National Ballet in 2017 as an Artist of the Company. While with the company, he has danced in productions including Song of the Earth, La Sylphide and Nutcracker in which he danced the Spanish divertissement.

Adela Ramirez, Daniel McCormick, Anjuli Hudson in the Spanish dance,Nutcracker © Laurent Liotardo
Adela Ramirez, Daniel McCormick, Anjuli Hudson in the Spanish dance,Nutcracker © Laurent Liotardo

Francesca Velicu

Velicu trained at the Choreography High School Floria Capsali, Bucharest and at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy before dancing with Romanian National Ballet. She was awarded second place at the 2013 Youth America Grand Prix in the Junior Category and was a Gold Medal winner at the 2012 World Ballet Competition. Since joining English National Ballet in 2016 she has been promoted to First Artist in 2017 and has performed as The Chosen One in Pina Bausch’s Le sacre du printemps, as Effy in La Sylphide and as Clara in Nutcracker.

Francesca Velicu in Pina Bausch's Le Sacre du printemps by English National Ballet (c) Laurent Liotardo
Francesca Velicu in Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du printemps by English National Ballet (c) Laurent Liotardo

Connie Vowles

Vowles joined English National Ballet as an Artist of the Company in 2016. Having previously trained at the Royal Ballet School she joined The Royal Ballet on their US tour and Birmingham Royal Ballet on their tour of Swan Lake. Since joining the company, Vowles has danced in Romeo & Juliet; La Sylphide, as a Lead Sylph; and in Nutcracker as Louise/Mirliton and as a Lead Snowflake. In 2017, she performed in Space for Everyone, an original short film made in collaboration with English National Ballet, the V&A, and Boiler Room.

Connie Vowles in La Sylphide © Laurent Liotardo
Connie Vowles in La Sylphide © Laurent Liotardo