Royal Academy of Dance announces winners of The Bedells Bursary 2024

The Royal Academy of Dance is delighted to announce the winners of The Bedells Bursary 2024 dance competition which took place at the RAD’s global HQ in London 3 November.

Lucy Crawford, a British dancer aged 15 from Elmhurst Ballet School won the main prize of £1,000.

Caitlin Le Roux, a British dancer aged 16 from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts won the Choreographic Award for her piece Running from Time.

Mia Ward, a British dancer aged 15 from Mayhew School of Dance won the inaugural Musicality Award.

24 young dancers took part in this competition, where candidates were judged by Dame Monica Mason and Ashley Page OBE on a non-syllabus ballet class, a classical variation and a Dancer’s Own variation choreographed by themselves. A masterclass and Bedells Bursary class were taught by RAD’s Artistic Director, Alexander Campbell.

The main bursary prize, supported by the Mary Kipps Bequest, has a value of £1,000 to be used to further the winner’s training. The Choreographic Award, which has a value of £250, recognises choreographic talent and is made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of the late Dr. Ivor Guest. The Musicality Award, which has a value of £100, is funded by the Lynn Wallis Bursary Fund.

Recognising young dancers’ excellence in artistic and technical achievement and providing opportunities for creativity, The Bedells Bursary is named in honour of Phyllis Bedells, a founder member and Vice-President of the RAD. The Bedells Bursary is a global competition, open to members of the RAD who are 17 years of age and under and have passed the RAD Advanced 1 Examination (with Distinction).

The bursary is a pathway to the RAD’s flagship event The Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition. The Fonteyn competition represents the pinnacle of achievement for young people trained in the RAD syllabus, and it is dedicated to promoting and rewarding standards of excellence in young ballet dancers internationally. 

Next year The Fonteyn competition will be held at the Auditorio Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil, from 11-19 October 2025.

The RAD is one of the world’s most influential dance education and training organisations. Its work brings dance to diverse communities around the world, widening access to dance and sharing the benefits and wellbeing that dance brings. The RAD produces a wide range of classes and programmes designed to improve mental health, including ballet classes for cancer patients at its HQ in London.

RAD Bedells Bursary 2024, Image by Roswitha Chesher