Deadline: Thursday, April 10, 2025, 5:00 pm Pacific Time
In 2025, Dance Victoria will award $9,480 to emerging dance artists wishing to study at recognized institutions outside of Canada.
The Chrystal Dance Prize – Training (CDP) will award $6,000 to Western Canadian dance artists wishing to train full-time at a recognized institution outside Canada. (Intensives and summer programs are not eligible.) The Chrystal Dance Prize is generated from a bequest made by Dance Victoria patron Dr. Betty “Chrystal” Kleiman to the Victoria Foundation. A committee of dance professionals is assembled each year to select the recipients.
The CDP – Training award is merit-based, and preference is given to applicants from Vancouver Island. Past recipients have attended The Juilliard School, School of American Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program, Joffrey Academy of Ballet, DART Dance Student Program (Berlin), and more.
The Arabella and Robert Award for Dance will award $3,480 to dance artists from across Canada who are continuing their training at a dance conservatory or institution outside Canada. Applicants will be considered alongside CDP – Training applicants, with winners selected by the same committee. The Arabella and Robert Award for Dance is generated from a fund established by Dance Victoria patrons Arabella Martin and Robert Britten, held at the Victoria Foundation.
Emerging Dance Artist and CDP awardees experience a springboard to successful careers that have included dancing with international and Canadian contemporary and ballet companies, creating and touring their own work, and deepening their artistic practice with training, mentorship opportunities, and connections they may not otherwise have accessed. In 2024, CDP – Training winners included Avari Dodd from Nanaimo, BC. Dodd received support towards her first year as a Dance major in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Montclair State University (New Jersey).
Of the CDP’s impact, Dodd shared: “The Chrystal Dance Prize has had a huge impact on my ability to continue training, especially with the increasing costs of international education. I’ve had technique classes in ballet, modern, tap, theatre jazz and improv, among others like production and music, that have completely inspired me for my future career in dance performance. This fall, I was fortunate to perform with my freshman class, and I’m so excited to be cast in two senior choreography projects for the spring. Montclair State University is exactly the program I was hoping for and I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such an incredible dance community and make professional connections so close to the incredible New York City.”
Additional Information
- Chrystal Dance Prize – Training guidelines
- Or contact Kiera Shaw, Artist Programs & Studio Manager at [email protected].
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 our studios in Quadra Village.
Dance Victoria is a non-profit charitable society with the mission to cultivate a connection to dance by presenting and supporting diverse local, national, and international artists, and inspiring all communities through the magic of dance. Our vision is that everyone in Greater Victoria can experience the transformative power of world-class dance. DanceVictoria.com.
Media contact:
Anne-Sophie Cournoyer
Marketing Manager
anne-sophie@dancevictoria.com
O: 250-595-1829