After visiting 15 cities across Canada and the United States, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School will officially wrap up its 2012-2013 International Audition Tour in Winnipeg this Sunday!

Each year, the RWB School Professional Division sends a team of artistic faculty and staff out on tour to audition students for its Ballet Academic, Aspirant and Teacher Training Programs for its July 2013 Summer Session.

Summer Session serves as the second stage of the two-part audition process for admission into the RWB School Professional Division.

Winnipeg is the home base of the RWB School and Company, and its auditions annually attract bright young talent from dance studios across the province, including our own Recreational Division!

Many local students who have studied in the RWB School Professional Division have gone on to have successful careers in dance and the arts. Some notable Winnipeg alumni include Connor Redpath (Cincinnati Ballet), Georgia Richtscheid (Ballet Jörgen Canada) and Marijka Stanowych, a graduate of the Teacher Training Program who is a teacher in the RWB School Professional and Recreational Divisions and Artistic Director of Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.

Daiva Neal, another notable alumnus from Winnipeg, danced professionally with the RWB Company and later Tulsa Ballet (OK), where she has been Company Manager since 2008.  During her dance career, Neal toured extensively in North America, Europe and Asia and also starred on the Canadian children’s television program The Toy Castle from 2000-2004.

The RWB School is fortunate to have the support of Investors Group for the 2012-2013 International Audition Tour. As in previous years, Investors Group will sponsor both the Investors Group National Scholarship Program which provides one scholarship to a student from each province to attend Summer Session, and the Professional Division Financial Aid Fund, which provides financial assistance to deserving Canadian students studying in the Fall/Winter session.

Those interested in attending auditions or workshops are encouraged to pre-register by visiting the RWB School website at www.rwbschool.com or by calling the School Office at 1-204-957-3467.

For more information about the Winnipeg auditions, visit http://www.rwb.org/school/pd/audition

Students who are unable to attend may submit an audition DVD to Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (380 Graham Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 4K2).

Hope to see you there!

Photo by Grajewski Fotograph Inc.