Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 has awarded three scholarships to students of the National Ballet Academy: Jacobine Pouw (17), Guus Hak (16) and Justus Schokkenbroek (17). The Dansersfonds was founded in 1979 by the Netherlands’ most famous ballet couple, Alexandra Radius and Han Ebbelaar. The foundation supports Dutch dance in general and promising young dancers in particular.

‘Jacobine has great personality and a good, alert presence. Despite the nerves everyone experiences in an assessment class, you could see how much she enjoys dancing’, said Han Ebbelaar of Stichting Dansersfonds ’79. About the two male scholarship winners, he said, ‘The two boys have been trained very well. They were really ‘awake’ and eager, and they responded very well to corrections’.

Every year, the Dansersfonds organises a public class, given by Ebbelaar, for which the Dutch dance academies can select their best students. During the class, an expert jury assesses the quality and potential of the students and awards scholarships to the most talented youngsters. And this time, they included Jacobine Pouw from NBA7, and Guus Hak and Justus Schokkenbroek from NBA6.  Ebbelaar: ‘We’d have liked to have awarded more scholarships, but unfortunately our budget won’t stretch to that. So I hope that some of the participants will have another go next year’.

The scholarships amount to 1500 Euros each, which the students must spend on their further development as a dancer. Ebbelaar: ‘They can do so in a variety of ways, but we especially encourage courses and traineeships abroad. All dancers benefit from coming up against international competition’.

Since its foundation, the Dansersfonds has awarded more than a hundred scholarships. The foundation also presents annual Incentive Awards and Merit Awards. This year, they will be presented on Monday 14 November in Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, at the foundation’s annual Ballet Gala.

www.dansersfonds.nl