We are proud to announce that the 2016 Nadia Nerina Scholarship has been awarded to 17-year-old Yu Hang from China, marking the seventh year of this scholarship.

The Nadia Nerina Scholarship, a gift in perpetuity to The Royal Ballet School from The Stitching Philip Loubser Foundation, is designed to support exceptionally talented students from beyond the European Union. A full scholarship is awarded to a non-European Union student every second year and supports them for their three years at The Royal Ballet School. The intention is that the 1st Year student has a ‘mentor’ in the graduate year student who has also benefitted from the scholarship. This time it is 3rd Year student, Joonhyuk Jun.

Christopher Powney, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet School said:

‘We extend our grateful thanks to The Philip Loubser Foundation for their continued generosity in providing this scholarship. It helps gifted young dancers like Yu Hang to train at The Royal Ballet School and allows them to reach their full potential. Without their support, and that of other generous donors, this would not be possible.’

Born in Jilin in Northeast China, Yu Hang was accepted into the Dance School of the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy for Ballet on a scholarship. She had the honour of being taught by the famous teacher Lin Meifang who has produced many outstanding dance talents, including Tan Yuanyuan, San Francisco Ballet Principal and Ji Pingping, assistant artistic director of Shanghai Ballet. To study at The Royal Ballet School, has always been Yu Hang’s dream and the motivation for her hard work.

Yu Hang was the first Chinese winner of the 2016 Prix de Lausanne in 29 years. In the same year, she won the gold medal in the women’s Senior Division (dancers ages 15-19) of the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). Yu Hang is only the third person to win both Prix de Lausanne and the Youth America Grand Prix.