The Jury

Jonas Kåge – Chairman

Former Artistic Director of Malmö Ballet, of Ballet West, Utah and Prix du Nord.

Jonas Kåge received his ballet training at the Royal Swedish Opera’s Ballet School. He then joined the Royal Swedish Ballet where he danced for five years before beginning his international career.

From 1971 – 1988 Jonas was Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Stuttgart Ballet, Geneva Ballet, Zürich Ballet and English National Ballet as well as guesting with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Münich Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre and Aterbaletto, Italy.

He was awarded the Talia prize in 1993 for his production of Swan Lake in Malmö and the Carina Ari medal in 1994. Jonas has been Artistic Director of the Nordic Baltic Ballet Competition since 2011.

Joseph Sturdy

Ballet Master at Royal Swedish Ballet

The British born Choreographer Joseph Sturdy was born in London and and received his dance education at the Royal Ballet School in London.

Joseph then went on to dance with companies such as, Ballet classico de Zaragoza (Spain), Compagnie Linga (Lausanne) and the Deutcher oper Berlin, Fascinated by the works of Maurice Béjart Sturdy joined the company and it was here that his choreographic interests and talent were encouraged by Béjart.

Peter Bo Bendixen

Artistic Director of the Tivoli Ballet Theatre Denmark

Education: The Royal Danish Ballet School.

Dancer with The Royal Danish Ballet 1983-2005, and as Principal since 1993. 1986-89 dancer in Hamburg Ballett. 1997-2007 Artistic director of  ”Principals and Soloists of The Royal Danish Ballet” and danced all over the world, as an ambassador for The Royal Danish Ballet.

In 2006 appointed Ballet Director in Tivoli, Copenhagen, with responsibilities for Tivoli Ballet Theatre and International ballet performances in Tivoli Concert Hall. Has directed different ballets by the Danish choreographer August Bournonville at The Pantomime Theatre in Tivoli. In 2012 debut as choreographer with The Nutcracker in Tivoli Concert Hall

Johanna Björnson

Artistic Board Member of the Carina Ari Foundation

Educated at the Royal Swedish Ballet School. Employed at Royal Swedish Ballet 1978.
Danced the lead role in all the major classical ballets and the modern repertoire.
Toured in many countries and also choreographed several pieces.

During his career, Björnson danced all the major leading roles in classical ballet both in Sweden and internationally. As a dance teacher, she has taught at the Ballet Academy (Stockholm), Ballet de Nice, the Monte Carlo Ballet, the Hong Kong Ballet and the National Theater Ballet in Prague, among others.

Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir

Contemporary Ballet Master and Choreographer at Royal Swedish Ballet

Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir is an Icelandic dancer, choreographer, and a rehearsal director. She has worked for companies such as, Cullberg Ballet, Gothenburg Dance Company, Ultima Vez, Icelandic Dance Company and the Royal Swedish Ballet.

Hlín has worked with choreographers such as, Mats Ek, Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Sasha Waltz, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Wim Vandekeybus, Cidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Alexander Ekman, Sharon Eyal, Emanuel Gat and many others. Hlíns latest work ”Riptide” was premiered at the Royal Swedish Opera February 10th 2023.

Additional jury members can be announced at a later date.