A great achievement! Interviews with Japanese finalists at the Prix de Lausanne 2022

50th Prix de Lausanne 2022
Sachiya Takada was 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 is a world-famous competition that is a hot topic in Japan every year and is truly a stepping stone for young ballet dancers.
The first selection is done by documents and videos, and the semi-finalists go to Switzerland and participate in several auditions held there. The dancers who pass this semi-final go to the main competition as finalists and aim to win a prize. 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.
This year, there were 81 semi-finalists, and only 20 of them became finalists. It is a very large competition with a long history, where many young dancers apply every year with the aim of winning.

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

<Biography>
At the age of four, she started ballet at a studio run by her mother. She won first place in her first small ballet competition when she was in the third grade of elementary school, and went on to win numerous other competitions. In 2019, she placed second in the Japanese qualifying round for the international competition YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix), winning the right to compete in the finals in New York and a scholarship to her first choice ballet school, but both were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Instead of the final competition in New York being canceled, the selection process was held via video, and she won a full scholarship from the Basel Theater Ballet School (Switzerland), where she is currently studying, and was able to study abroad safely despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takada:
Although there were many difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that being at my current school allowed me to compete in the Prix de Lausanne (International Ballet Competition). I was very lucky.

- You are currently studying abroad in Switzerland. Please tell us about your life there.
I live in a boys' house owned by the school and cook my own meals every day. I go to school by tram, a street bus, and my lessons start at 8am. In the afternoon, I go to the academic building to attend lectures, buy groceries, and go home every day.

-What made you start ballet?
My older sister had started learning ballet at my mother's ballet studio, so I was always able to see her lessons.
According to her mother, she decided that she had potential after having her practice ballet foot patterns in the living room of her home, and so she started dancing seriously from the age of four.

-What does ballet mean to you, Takada?
It is the main focus of my life and my future career.
I would like to clearly express the idea that "ballet is an art."

- Thoughts on the Prix de Lausanne
I participated in the competition with the aim of being scouted by a ballet company that could potentially provide me employment.
Unfortunately, it didn't come to fruition. As a result, it was very painful for me at first, but now it has become my motivation to continue doing what I want to do in the future.

Participating in the Prix de Lausanne

-How did you feel when you were selected as a finalist?
It wasn't a feeling of complacency, but rather I had secretly been confident that I could become a finalist, so I felt like, "I did it!"

Participating in the Prix de Lausanne 2022

- Future outlook
I have one year left until I graduate from school, and at that time I will also start looking for a job.
My goal is to get into a company in Europe or the United States.
I will work hard every day so that I will have no regrets.

thank you very much!
He said he was confident that he could become a finalist. Yukiya Takada is a young dancer brimming with confidence and hope, and the skills he has developed through rigorous daily lessons are unmistakable.
Even the fact that her dream of studying abroad at a school couldn't come true due to the COVID-19 pandemic seems like fate that led to where she is now. She said she wants to express that "ballet is an art form."
We look forward to your future success!