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The 2008 winner is Edward Watson
The nominations for 2008 were:
Denis Matvienko, Friedemann Vogel and Edward Watson
More information about each dancer is given below:
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Denis Matvienko
(Mikhailovsky Ballet)
Denis Matvienko, who has performed in London with both the Bolshoi and the Mikhailovsky Ballet companies, is a dancer of elegance and excitement. Born in 1979 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, he graduated from the Kiev State Choreographic Academy and in 1997 became a principal with the Kiev National Opera Ballet. He danced with the Mariinsky Ballet (2001-2), then returned to Kiev where he performed until 2007 when he joined The Mikhailovsky Ballet. The recipient of many international dance awards and guest principal of the Bolshoi Ballet, Matvienko is a muscular and refined dancer, who offers passionate bravura and exciting pyrotechnics.
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Friedemann Vogel
(Stuttgart Ballet)
The Stuttgart Ballet principal is a true-born Stuttgarter. He trained at the Cranko School before taking up a fellowship in Monte Carlo. He was a winner in the 1997 Prix de Lausanne, gained a place in the Stuttgart corps and quickly rose through the ranks, attracting the attention of the New York critic Anna Kisselgoff when he was just 19, praised for his “lively purity”. His repertory includes title roles in the classics as well as works by Balanchine, Forsythe and Béjart. He made a touchingly boyish, beautifully stylish Romeo at the Coliseum on the company’s visit in March.
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Edward Watson
(The Royal Ballet)
Edward Watson richly deserved the Critics’ Circle Outstanding Newcomer Award in 2001. Since then he has gone from strength to strength as a dance artist. Last season he added to his impressive catalogue of parts with an anguished, poignant Woyzek in Kenneth MacMillan’s Different Drummer. He also reprised his widely acclaimed performance in Wayne McGregor’s Chroma, among many other roles for The Royal Ballet. Watson is a unique artist, possessing an extraordinarily articulate physique, with legs rivalling the plastique of a flamingo, allied to a level of emotional intensity and commitment that is truly rare.
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Picture credits
Jonathan Goddard © Hugo Glendinning,
Denis Matvienko © Gene Schiavone,
Friedemann Vogel © Stuttgart Ballet,
Edward Watson © Johan Persson.
All text is © copyright of the Critics' Circle / National Dance Awards. |
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