A remarkable achievement! Interview with the Japanese finalist of the 2022 Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition.

The 50th Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022
Sachiya Takada has been successfully selected as a finalist.
Takada, who is from Yokohama City, started ballet at the age of four at her mother's ballet studio.

The Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition is a world-renowned competition that generates a lot of buzz in Japan every year, and is truly a stepping stone for young ballet dancers.
The initial selection process involves reviewing submitted documents and videos. Those who pass this preliminary round travel to Switzerland as semi-finalists to participate in multiple rounds of judging. Dancers who pass the semi-finals then advance to the main competition, where they compete for a prize. The main competition lasts for approximately one week, requiring dancers to possess not only physical stamina but also high levels of concentration and mental fortitude.
This year, there are 81 semi-finalists, but only 20 will advance to the finals—a truly competitive field. Every year, many young dancers prepare for this prestigious and historic competition, aiming to win an award.

This time, we'll be featuring Sachiya Takada, a Japanese dancer who was selected as a finalist at the 50th Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition 2022.

<Career>
She began ballet at the age of four at a studio run by her mother. In the third grade of elementary school, she won first place in a small ballet competition, and went on to win numerous other competitions. In 2019, she placed second in the Japanese preliminary round of the YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix), an international competition, and earned the right to participate in the New York finals and a scholarship to her first-choice ballet school, but both were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In place of the canceled New York competition, the selection process was conducted via video, and she received a full scholarship from the Basel Theatre Ballet School (Switzerland), where she is currently studying, allowing her to successfully pursue her studies despite the pandemic.

Takada-san:
We faced many difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I believe that establishing our current school allowed us to participate in the Lausanne (International Ballet Competition). We were very lucky.

—Ms. Takada, you are currently studying in Switzerland. Could you tell us about your life there?
I live in a boys' dormitory owned by the school and cook my own meals every day. I take a tram (a type of streetcar) to school, lessons start at 8 a.m., I go to the academic building in the afternoon for lectures, buy food, and then go home every day.

What inspired you to start ballet?
My older sister was already taking lessons at my mother's ballet studio, so I always saw her lessons.
According to my mother, she saw potential in me when I was doing ballet footwork and other exercises in our living room at home, so I started taking ballet lessons seriously when I was four years old.

—What does ballet mean to you, Ms. Takada?
This is the very core of my life, and it will become my profession in the future.
I want to clearly express that "ballet is an art form."

Thoughts on the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition
I participated in the competition with the goal of being scouted by a ballet company that could potentially hire me.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out. As a result, I was very sad for a while, but now it has become an even greater source of motivation, and I'm determined to use it to my advantage in the future.

Scenes from when she participated in the Lausanne International Ballet Competition.

—How I felt when I was selected as a finalist
It wasn't out of arrogance at all; in fact, I secretly had confidence that I could become a finalist, so I felt like, "I did it!"

Scenes from when she participated in the 2022 Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition.

- Future prospects
I have one year left until I graduate from school, and at the same time, job hunting will begin.
My goal is to join a company somewhere in Europe or America.
I will strive every day so that I have no regrets.

thank you very much!
He said he was confident he could become a finalist. Takada Yukiya is a young dancer full of confidence and hope, whose skills have undoubtedly been honed through rigorous daily lessons.
Even the fact that she couldn't fulfill her dream of studying at a ballet school due to the pandemic feels like fate, leading her to where she is today. She says she wants to express that "ballet is an art form."
We look forward to seeing what you do in the future!