The Washington Ballet company dancer Aurora Dickie won a bronze medal and studio company dancer Junxiong Zhao won two gold medals at the third Cape Town International Ballet Competition (CTIBC) held in Cape Town, South Africa, the first weekend in March.

The dancers competed in a field of 45 professional dancers ages 15 to 28 from the Republic of South Korea, Argentina, Armenia, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Australia, China, Cuba, and South Africa.

Aurora Dickie

Dickie won the bronze medal in the senior female classical division for her performance of solos from Grand Pas Classique and Paquita. Zhao won the gold medal in both the senior male classical division (variations from Swan Lake and Don Quixote) and the senior male contemporary division (choreography by Carlos Valcárcel).

Junxiong Zhao (all photos courtesy of the Washington Ballet)

Also this month:

• Alvin Tovstogray of TWB’s studio company won the gold medal for senior men in classical ballet at Tanzolymp 2012 held in Berlin.
• Four dancers from The Washington School of Ballet won awards at the Youth America Grand Prix semifinals held in Torrington, Connecticut, and will go on to compete in the YAGP finals in April in New York: Albert Gordon (senior grand prix award), Breanne Coughlin (third place, women’s classical dance), Christianne Campbell (second place, women’s contemporary dance), and Daniel Savetta (first place, men’s contemporary dance). Dancers Rory Schwartz and Eden Garcia Thaler were also invited to compete at the YAGP finals based on high scores.

The school tied for first place in the ensemble category and also won an Outstanding School Award. To see a full list of YAGP award winners, go to www.yagp.org/eng/torrington_ct_2012_winners.php.