Ines Kyburz/Daniel Lienhart in the Pair Award, tanZdas in the Group Award; boogie-woogie and jazz dance were the winners at the second Swiss Dance Award in front of over 1600 spectators in Winterthur. However, the big winner was once again the united Swiss dance sport, which used the gala stage to put on a spectacular show and thrilled the audience.
The Swiss Dance Award once again made the hearts of dance fans in the AXA Arena Winterthur beat faster when the Dani Felber Band kicked off the gala evening. And all the participants from eight different dance styles proved that this is where the best that Swiss dance sport has to offer comes together.
More storytelling and variety
"The couples have learnt from the premiere, they deliberately focussed on storytelling," praised juror Fabio Quattrocchi after the standard shows. Vova Kasilov/Yulia Dreier (DUZ) won the audience's favour against Klym Shypilin/Anna Alexeeva (TTZ) with a cleverly told burlesque. In Latin, Tristan Geiger/Catherine Pisarenko (TTZ) managed to knock the most successful Swiss couple Davide Corrodi/Maja Kucherczyk (TSCZ) out of the race, although the latter put on a technically sophisticated Michael Jackson number. In the final of the Pair Award, the two STSV couples ended up behind the Winterthur boogie-woogie dancers Ines Kyburz/Daniel Lienhart, but with their new shows they finished ahead of the B-Boys Spy/MisterMe, who represented the Olympic sport of breaking.
tanZdas sets standards in the Group Award
tanZdas, the Central Swiss jazz dance group that competed last year, not only brought technical perfection to the stage, but also impressed artistically with two visually stunning shows. The 25 dancers won the internal semi-final duel against the New Dance Academy from Bern by a relatively narrow margin. In addition to tanZdas from Lucerne, RADX from Liestal (hip-hop), the Rock Angels from Schaffhausen (rock'n'roll ladies formation) and the Centre de Danse OR from Nyon (tap dance) all contributed equally to the extremely spectacular final, which thrilled the audience.
Nadja "Nadeschkin" Sieger, who sat in the red chair as a juror for the first time, also emphasised the high standard: "The precision, the energy, the talent - all the participants in the Swiss Dance Award have shown how lively, colourful and wonderfully diverse dance culture in Switzerland is."
Third edition on 25 January 2025
With the last sounds of the evening and the standing ovations for all participants, the IG Swiss Dance Award is already looking ahead to next year. Preparations for 25 January 2025 are already starting next week. The organisers promise to continue the success story. Winterthur will once again become the beating heart of the dance world in 2025 when enthusiasts and professionals gather for the third Swiss Dance Awards to celebrate the diversity and passion of dance.
Text: Cordin Camenzind, pictures: Reini Egli
