Home-grown ballet sensation dazzles at Prix de Lausanne
At just 15 years old, Hong Kong-born ballerina Christiana de Blank has danced her way to become the city’s first ever female semi-finalist at the internationally renowned Prix de Lausanne ballet competition!
For the uninitiated, the prestigious Prix de Lausanne selects just 80 ballet up-and-comers to participate in a week-long competition in Switzerland. Winners are awarded scholarships and access to funds to springboard them into a professional classical ballet career. With world-famous alums like Darcey Bussel, Alina Cojocaru, Miyako Yoshida and Carlos Acosta, it is easy to understand why aspiring ballerinas clamour for a chance to compete.
This makes de Blank’s achievement all the more impressive, but not unexpected given her unique upbringing. At four years old, she stepped into her first ballet class. By age 10, Christiana had already decided to dedicate her life to dance.
Since then, de Blank has trained intensively at the HK Youth Ballet Academy under the careful tutelage of a team led by Mr. So Hon Wah, the city’s first and only male dancer to date to become a Prix de Lausanne semi-finalist in 1989. She has also performed in soloist and principal roles in several of the Academy’s productions.
De Blank will be starring as Princess Aurora in the upcoming production of Sleeping Beauty (9-10 December) before heading back to Switzerland for the Prix de Lausanne Finals.
