Wauchope’s Jarryd Madden has been named the Telstra People’s Choice Award winner, part of the prestigious Telstra Ballet Dancer Awards.
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Jarryd was presented the award in Sydney on Friday night, along with the $5000 prizemoney.
The award is decided by online public vote.
Jarryd started dancing at the age of three at his local dance school in Wauchope.
He remained there until 2005 when, aged 16, he joined Melbourne’s National Theatre Ballet School. Jarryd joined The Australian Ballet in 2008; he was promoted to coryphée in 2011 and to soloist in 2015.
Telstra chief financial officer Warwick Bray presented Jarryd his award following The Australian Ballet’s opening night performance of Coppélia, the company’s final 2017 season.
“One of the greatest successes in our 32-year partnership with The Australian Ballet has been the establishment and legacy of the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award, which is dedicated to supporting and encouraging the future of The Australian Ballet’s rising stars,” Mr Bray said.
Callum Linnane was named the 2016 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award winner. Callum, a self described ‘boy from Ballarat’ will receive a $20,000 cash prize from Telstra.
For the first time in the award’s history, there was an equal representation of genders among the nominees.
The nominees this year included Callum Linnane (Townsville, QLD/ Ballarat, VIC), Jarryd Madden (Wauchope), Brodie James (Perth, WA), Jill Ogai (Sydney, NSW), Nicola Curry (born in Baltimore, USA, resides between Brisbane and Melbourne) and Jade Wood (Cairns QLD).
The nominees were judged throughout the year on the contributions they made to the company, both on and off the stage.
