Dance Victoria announced today two winners in the 2023 Chrystal Dance Prize – Training category and the Arabella and Robert Award for Dance for emerging dance artists. A panel of dance professionals selected the winners through an application process.
Margarette Bernal from Richmond, B.C. receives $4,641, with $3,000 awarded from the Chrystal Dance Prize – Training and $1,641 from the Arabella and Robert Award for Dance. Margarette trained at Defy Gravity Dance Company Inc. and completed her Cecchetti Exams to the Advanced 1 level, winning the Majors Category of the BC Cecchetti Awards. She is the recipient of the senior Canadian Cecchetti Society Scholarship. Margarette will use these funds to support her studies at The Ailey School (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre) in 2023/24.
Bryn Bridgen from Vancouver was awarded $3,000 through the Chrystal Dance Prize – Training. Bryn is an Indigenous dance artist who has danced with Dance//Novella. She is a graduate of Lamondance in Vancouver, a student of the Modus Operandi Link program, and in 2022, she completed GibneyPRO’s Pilot Program in New York City. Bryn will use the funds to support her Professional Certificate studies at GibneyPRO in 2023/24.
The Chrystal Dance Prize is awarded twice annually. The Training category supports emerging western Canadian dance artists continuing their full-time training at a recognized international institution outside of Canada. The Projects category supports independent artists, companies or collectives working on exceptional projects with an international artist (interpreter or choreographer). The Chrystal Dance Prize is generated from a substantial bequest made by Dance Victoria patron, Dr. Betty “Chrystal” Kleiman, to the Victoria Foundation. Between the two awards, approximately $55,000 is awarded to dance artists.
The Arabella and Robert Award for Dance is an award open to dancers from across Canada continuing their training at an international dance conservatory or institution and is generated from a fund established by Dance Victoria patrons Arabella Martin and Robert Britten, held at the Victoria Foundation.
About Dance Victoria
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from its studios in Quadra Village. As a non-profit charitable society, Dance Victoria operates with the mission to promote the appreciation of dance by developing and presenting diverse local, Canadian, and international artists, and by engaging the community in the celebration of dance. DanceVictoria.com
Media materials & contact:
Photos are available of the CDP winners by contacting [email protected].
Tracy Smith
Marketing Manager
[email protected]
O: 250-595-1829