Florence Hanks-Ruttyn: Hornsby ballet prodigy accepted into the Youth America Grand Prix
An up-and-coming ballet superstar will soon represent Australia in one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions.
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An upper north shore ballet prodigy will represent Australia in one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions – competing against the very best young dancers and learning from some of the best school directors in the business.
Florence Hanks-Ruttyn has been selected to compete in the Youth America Grand Prix early next year – topping off an incredible year for the 12-year-old who has also received an invitation-only scholarship to dance in an Italian gala next July.
Florence has attended dance classes at The Conlan College in Pymble since she was four-years-old.
At age eight, her talent was spotted by The Australian Ballet School and earned a place in the highly-competitive Australian Ballet School’s interstate training program.
Earlier this year, the trials for the Youth America Grand Prix were rigorous, with dancers from across Australia giving it a shot.
“We had two days of workshops with some teachers from around the world and they were also livestreaming the classes to some directors of ballet schools,” Florence said.
In these workshops, the young dancers undertook two days of classical and contemporary classes. They also had to learn and perform choreography from Swan Lake.
At the end of the second day, Florence discovered she was awarded an invitation-only scholarship to dance in Italy.
“We don’t know if we’re going to be able to make it to both (the Italy gala and YAGP) but it was lovely she was chosen,” Florence’s mum, Laura Hanks-Ruttyn said.
About a week later, Florence received an email saying she was one of only ten junior ballet dancers from across Australia to earn a highly coveted spot in the YAGP, held in Tampa, Florida.
When she received the email, Florence said she “was really excited and shocked”.
At the YAGP, Florence will take part in five days of masterclasses with directors of ballet schools from around the world.
She will also perform a classical ballet solo and a contemporary solo, which will be judged. There will later be an award ceremony, where overall prize winners and scholarships will be announced.
“I’m really looking forward to performing these pieces in a different country,” Florence said.
“And also, it’ll be great to receive corrections and feedback from the big ballet school directors”.
In the future, Florence hopes to pursue a career in professional ballet. She said the opportunity to participate in these competitions will help her to get seen and in front of the right people.
Asked what she loved most about dancing, Florence answered: “It’s just being able to express myself in a way other than words.”
To help raise money for the expensive trip across the globe, as well as for extra dance lessons, competition fees and costumes, Florence’s family has set up a GoFundMe page.
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