Great achievement! Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022 Interview with Japanese finalists

50th Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022
Ms. Sachiya Takada was selected as a finalist.
Originally from Yokohama, Takada started ballet at her mother's ballet studio when she was 4 years old.

The Lausanne International Ballet Competition is a world-famous competition that can be said to be a gateway to success for young ballet dancers.
An initial selection is made on paper and video, and the shortlisted qualifiers travel to Switzerland as semi-finalists to participate in multiple judging on-site. And the dancers who passed this semi-final will advance to the main competition with the aim of winning prizes as finalists. The main competition lasts for about a week, and the dancers are required to have high concentration and mental strength as well as physical strength.
There are 81 semi-finalists this year, and only 20 of them will become finalists. It is a very big competition with a long history that many young dancers aim to win prizes every year.

This time, we will feature Sachiya Takada, a Japanese dancer who was selected as a finalist at the 50th Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022.

<Career>
At the age of 4, she started ballet at her mother's studio. Starting with winning first place in a small ballet competition in which she first participated in the third grade, she has won numerous competitions. In the 2019 YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix), an international competition held in Japan, she placed 2nd and won the final selection in New York and a scholarship to her first choice ballet school.
Instead of the canceled main competition in New York, the selection was made by video, and he received a full scholarship from the Basel Theater Ballet School (Switzerland), where he is currently studying, and successfully completed his study abroad despite the corona disaster.

Mr. Takada:
There were various difficulties due to the corona disaster, but I think that I was able to participate in the Lausanne (International Ballet Competition) because I became the current school. I was very lucky.

ーMr. Takada, who is currently studying abroad in Switzerland. tell me about your life
I live in the boys' house owned by the school and cook for myself every day. I go to school by a street bus called a tram, start lessons at 8:00 in the morning, move to the academic school building in the afternoon, take lectures, buy food, and go home every day.

ーHow did you start ballet?
At my mother's ballet studio, my older sister took lessons first, and I always watched her lessons.
According to my mother, she thought it would be a good idea to let her have her feet shaped for ballet in her living room, so she started in earnest at the age of 4.

-What does ballet mean to you, Mr. Takada?
It is the very main axis of my life, and it will be my profession in the future.
I want to firmly express that "ballet is an art".

ー Thoughts on the Lausanne International Ballet Competition
I participated for the purpose of scouting from a ballet company that could be a job.
Unfortunately it didn't come true. As a result, it was very painful for a while, but now it has become a further motivation, and I feel that I will connect it in the future.

Participation at the Lausanne International Ballet Competition

- How I felt when I was selected as a finalist
I didn't feel like I was buying it, but I was secretly confident that I could be a finalist, so I did it! I feel like I'm going to have a good time.

Participation at the Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022

-Future prospects
There is only one year left until I graduate from school, and at the same time I will start job hunting.
My goal is to enter a company somewhere in Europe and the United States.
I would like to work hard every day so that I have no regrets.

thank you very much!
He was confident that he could become a finalist. Yukiya Takada, a young dancer full of confidence and hope, who has undoubtedly cultivated his skills through rigorous lessons every day.
I feel like even the fact that I couldn't go to school because of the corona crisis was destined to lead me to the current Takada-san. I want to express that "ballet is an art",
I look forward to your future success!