A new ballet star is born from Japan
Ms. Madoka Sugai, 17, from Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, won the Prix de Laussane international ballet competition for young dancers in Laussane, Suitzerland.
She also won the best contemporary dance award.
NHK interviewed Ms. Suigai the day after she won the Prix de Laussane. “When they called my name at the award ceremony, my mind went totally blank! My hard work - that I practiced until late at night - paid off,” she said.
Ms. Sugai initially got interested in ballet when she was three years old. Her older sister was taking ballet lessons, which she started tagging along with her to the classes. When she was 6, she started taking ballet lessons in Daiwa town, Kanagawa prefecture. She has been practicing every evening after school till a little past 11 p.m.
(the photo above was taken when she was around 6 years old)
Upon returning to Japan, Ms. Sugai said, “I’m ecstatic that I got to dance on an international stage, which was my first and very enjoyable, and I’m so happy that I was able to achieve my initial goal. I’d be pleased if I could cheer up everyone in Japan, especially since the disaster last year.”
Excerpts from NHK special report: 2/6/2012
Congrats, Ms. Sugai! We are all proud of you!!
