In The Age, Jo Roberts profiles the nominees for Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year, an award made to Australian Ballet dancers who, in the opinion of senior artists of the company, is outstanding in artistic quality, "generosity of spirit and ability as a role model." The award comes with a prize of A$20,000. (Australian Ballet also has a People's Choice award, with a prize of A$5,000.)

url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Arts/Dancers-compete-for-glittering-prize/2005/03/10/1110417614877.html

I think this is an idea that might be emulated by other companies if a willing donor could be found. What do others think?

I think this is a great way of fostering young talent, especially since salaries are often quite low. Reading the article, the nominated dancers are in the 20s and 30s, so it recognized developing and more mature talent.

The New York City Ballet has an award that is somewhat similar - The Janice Levin Dancer Award.

Quoting from a NYCB press release:
I don't know if there is a monetary component to the award. It is presented each year at the Guild Luncheon. Awardees have included Carla Körbes, Daniel Ulbricht and Abi Stafford

Kate

Both in Denmark and Sweden, there a number of Legats (Grants) awarded to dancers, from corps to principals in the companies.

They come with moderate monetary awards (one recently awarded grant was about $4000 or £2000). I think they provide not only some financial benefit for the dancers, but also give them a sense of appreciation for their efforts.

Some of the Legats at the Royal Danish Ballet include:

DANCE Grant
Svenåge Larsens Grant
Bournonville Grant
Gurli og Poul Madsens Foundation Grant
Albert Goubier Grant
Gotschalk Grant
Adeline Genee Grant
Bartholin Foundation Grant
Hans Beck Grant
Niels Mathiesen Memorial Grant

What does make me wince are the Phillip Morris Flower Awards, which are presented to the top dancers in several European countries. The dancers most certainly are worthy of the awards, but it seems unfortunate that the benefactor is a major producer of tobacco products. Smoking is far too prevalent in the dance profession, and I can't help but wonder if these awards don't help the situation by linking dance to tobacco companies.

Kate