William Dugan scores scholarship offers at Prix de Lausanne

William Dugan at the Prix de Lausanne
competition in Switzerland

Congratulations to Next Generation Ballet (NGB) New Artist William Dugan who competed last week in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne dance competition in Lausanne, Switzerland.

When William found out he’d qualified to go to Switzerland, he said, “It was quite a surreal moment, I couldn’t even fathom what just happened. But I got in! I was chosen as one of the very few Americans.”

The Prix de Lausanne offers young dancers the opportunity to compete for scholarships from some of the world’s best ballet schools. Nearly 300 young dancers auditioned and out of the 84 candidates chosen to compete, Dugan, 16, was one of only 10 selected from the United States.

William Dugan with Tamara Rojo, Artistic

Director of English National Ballet

“William’s acceptance into this competition is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Peter Stark, artistic director of NGB and the Patel Conservatory dance chair.

Last year, NGB student Hannah Bettes won the audience favorite award at the Prix de Lausanne.

“The staff couldn’t be more proud of sending students to the competition for two consecutive years,” said Stark.

Dugan also competed internationally last June in the Beijing International Dance Competition. Earlier this month, he placed third in the Tampa regional Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), which earned him a place in the YAGP nationals this April in New York City.

The Prix de Lausanne included a week full of classes in which competitors were coached and judged.

“The judges would score us in our ballet and contemporary classes, and on our variations...It’s very nerve-wracking because the judges mark you, and they’re staring at you. And, they’re all superstar international ballet dancers!” said William.

Though William did not advance to the final round, he did receive several scholarship offers, including from The School of the Hamburg Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet School and more.

William getting ready for a day of competition!

“It was crazy because I’ve never been offered anything like this before. I’ve done YAGP competitions and never got scholarship offers. I was so happy,” said William.

William and his family have decided that he will likely attend the School of the Hamburg Ballet in the fall.

In addition to the wonderful experience of competing alongside international students and receiving multiple scholarship offers, a bonus of the week was seeing snow for the very first time.

“It was quite a moment!” said William. “It was my first time in Europe and being in Switzerland was awesome.”

Congratulations to William on his success and best of luck in his future!