Two Dancers Win Telstra Ballet Dancer Award

For the first time in the eight-year history of the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award (TBDA) two dancers have taken out the prestigious title.

Ty King-Wall from New Zealand and Dana Stephensen from Brisbane are 2010's joint TBDA winners.

They will each take home a $20,000 cash prize awarded by Principal Sponsor Telstra.

For the second time, Amy Harris from Ararat (VIC) was crowned the People's Choice winner, having won the award previously in 2008. She will receive $5,000 - taking the total prize pool to an impressive $45,000.

The unexpected result was announced by Telstra's Group Managing Director, Telstra
Business, Deena Shiff, in front of a capacity crowd of 1500 at the Sydney Opera House,
following tonight's opening night performance of The Nutcracker.

Ms Shiff said deciding between the two dancers was an impossible task. "Both Ty and Dana
gave exciting and dynamic performances throughout the year, and were equally impressive with their commitment and overall contributions to The Australian Ballet.

"Telstra is delighted to assist the next generation of ballet stars with their professional development. In particular, we look forward to watching these two talented dancers grow and mature further with the help of this award," Ms Shiff said.

The TBDA announcement is an annual highlight of The Australian Ballet's partnership with
Principal Sponsor Telstra, a relationship which has spanned an incredible 26 years.

The award is a true mark of star potential, and past winners have gone on to achieve great
things in the ballet world.

Lana Jones (who won the award in 2005), Daniel Gaudiello (2007) and Kevin Jackson (2008) were recently promoted to principal artist, the highest ranking in the company, at Telstra Ballet in the Stadium in Penrith.

The Telstra Ballet Dancer Award is the highest accolade of its kind available to an Australian
dancer. Ty and Dana won the top honour after being judged as outstanding on numerous
criteria over the course of the year.

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet David McAllister said: "What a result! Congratulations
to both Ty and Dana on their deserving wins. Crowning two worthy winners illustrates the
wealth of talent at the company and gives audiences much to look forward to in our 2011 season and beyond."

This year's judging panel was comprised of  David McAllister (Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet), Valerie Wilder (Executive Director, The Australian Ballet), Danilo Radojevic
(Associate Artistic Director, The Australian Ballet), Richard Howarth (General Manager Sponsorships & Reputation, Telstra), Catriona Rowntree (TV presenter, Channel 9) and Edwina McCann (Editor, Harper's Bazaar).

The other nominees for 2010 were Miwako Kubota, Natasha Kusen and Vivienne Wong. All six dancers were nominated by The Australian Ballet's artistic staff and principal artists.

In another TBDA first, this year the nominees were given Blackberries and used Twitter to give audiences an insight into their lives as professional ballet dancers.

The Australian Ballet congratulates all the nominees, and Ty and Dana on their historic
TBDA win.

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