The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced the medallists of the prestigious Genée International Ballet Competition 2018, held at Hong Kong City Hall on 12 August.

After a week of intensive coaching from world-renowned teachers and choreographers, the competitive Final results are in:

The coveted gold medal awarded to Joshua Green, aged 17 from Australia, trained by Karen Ireland & Monet Hewitt, aged 16 from New Zealand, trained by Joye Lowe.

Silver medals were awarded to Caitlin Garlick, trained by Karen Ireland & Basil James, trained by Anthony Dowson and Jennifer Hale. Enoka Sato, trained by Annette Roselli & Jordan Yeuk Hay Chan, trained by Yui Man Cheung, were awarded the bronze medal

Joshua Green started dancing in 2016 under the watchful eye of Karen Ireland at Karen Ireland Dance Centre. In April 2018, he travelled to New York and was selected as a top 20 dancer at the Youth America Grand Prix finals. He also received a scholarship to The John Cranko Schule. After completing the Genée, he stays in Hong Kong as one of the selected finalists of the Asian Grand Prix.

Monet Hewitt from Auckland, New Zealand, began dancing when he was 8 years old at Philippa Campbell School of Ballet under the tutelage of Joye Lowe, Jane Turner and Geordan Wilcox.

Jordan Yeuk Hay Chan was presented with the Margot Fonteyn Audience Choice Award, and the Choreographic Award for best Dancer’s Own variation was awarded to Australian dancer, Joshua Green.

The 2018 Genée attracted 51 of the world’s finest young dancers from 13 nationalities, aged between 15 and 19 years old.

The competition saw finalists perform three solos including never-before seen pieces by esteemed choreographer Carlos AC Pacis, who was commissioned by RAD to create two variations (one for male candidates and one for female candidates) for the competition.

The young dancers were judged by Septime Webre, Artistic Director for Hong Kong Ballet, Janek Schergen, Artistic Director at Singapore Dance Theatre, Lisa Pavane, Director of The Australian Ballet School, Joanne Michel, Ballet Mistress for The Australian Ballet School and Chi Cao, former Principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet.

The competition was also attended by the Ambassador for Genée 2018, Ye FeiFei (current principal dancer at Hong Kong Ballet), who also performed as part of the Hong Kong Ballet guest performance at the Final. Ye FeiFei was awarded a silver medal at Genée 2006, when the competition was last held in Hong Kong.

Now in its 87th year, the Genée International Ballet Competition is named after RAD’s first President Dame Adeline Genée and is renowned for launching the professional careers of young dancers. Alongside Ye FeiFei, previous winners have gone on to dance with companies including The Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada.

The RAD is proud to be working with a number of partners to make this year’s Genée happen. These include Hong Kong Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet Group, Avanton, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and The Excelsior, Hong Kong, Harlequin Floors, Phillips (auctioneers since 1796) and the Dame Margot Fonteyn Scholarship Fund. You can see more details about our full list of sponsors and supporters here.