Alejandro Zwartendijk, Lydia Bustinduy and Gary Feingold win Dansersfonds Awards 2020

Dansersfonds ’79 has announced the winners of the 23rd annual Dansersfonds Awards: Alejandro Zwartendijk, Lydia Bustinduy and Gary Feingold. 

Alejandro Zwartendijk receives the Incentive Award (Aanmoedigingsprijs) for his ‘authenticity, sense of nuance, timing and detail, and his understanding of composition and spatial awareness’.  Lydia Bustinduy receives the Merit Award for her contributions to the work of Nederlands Danstheater. Gary Feingold, the Artistic Director of dance training centre the Henny Jurriëns Studio, wins a Special Award for his longstanding contribution to Dutch dance.

The judging panel consisted of the founders of the Dansersfonds ’79, Alexandria Radius and Han Ebbelaar, with Ine Rietstap, Marian Sarstädt and Karin Schnabel. The Danserfonds ’79 Awards are the longest running prizes in the Dutch dance field. Radius and Ebbelaar started the fund in 1979 with the gifts they received at their twentieth anniversary as ballet dancers. The fund supports dancers in various stages of their careers.

Normally, the ceremony would take place during the Balletgala, a fundraiser held each November. Due to COVID-19, the gala has been moved to 25 January 2021. It will be dedicated to all dancers in the Netherlands, as the pandemic has placed their professional practice under pressure.

Photo: Altin Kaftira