Edo Wijnen winner Alexandra Radius Prize 2019

The Belgian dancer Edo Wijnen, soloist at Dutch National Ballet, is the winner of the Alexandra Radius Prize 2019. Wijnen received the award, of € 2500,- and a work of art, from Alexandra Radius during the Gala of Dutch National Ballet on Tuesday 10 September 2019 at Dutch National Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam.

The jury called Edo Wijnen "Powerful but also vulnerable, virtuoso but without any 'upstart', boyish but oh so accurate (...) he manages to fill the entire stage with his charismatic personality and continuous, full surrender."

This year marked the 31st anniversary of the award.

Edo Wijnen:
"I've already seen many colleagues standing here, incredibly talented dancers, many of my idols and the fact that I'm now allowed to be added to this list is a tremendous honour, I don't really have any words for it...."

From the jury report:
"In David Dawson's psychological 'space journey' Citizen Nowhere, one dancer - all alone on the big stage of Dutch National Opera & Ballet - succeeds in taking his audience's breath away for no less than 23 minutes. For years, Edo has been one of Dutch National Ballet's defining dancers. Soon after joining the company in 2010, he attracted attention with his strong technique, his obvious dance pleasure, his fresh, disarming appearance and the way in which he really carries you along in every role he performs: you simply can't miss him. In the past season, except(especially?) in Citizen Nowhere, this became clear in many more ballets. Wijnen distinguished himself in Hans van Manen's Kleines Requiem, Alexei Ratmansky's Serenade after Plato's Symposium, Juanjo Arqués' Ignite and as Alexander, the prince's friend, in Rudi van Dantzig's Swan Lake, among others. A special mention should also be made of his performance in William Forsythe's Pas/Parts: just like dancer Sasha Mukhamedov, Wijnen gave superior shape to Forsythe's complex, lightning-fast, deconstructed and distorted interpretation of the classical ballet technique."

Look here for a video with a lot of his performances.

Jury
This year's jury for the Alexandra Radius Prize consisted of: Alexandra Radius (former principal of Dutch National Ballet), Caroline Sayo Iura (former principal of Dutch National Ballet and ballet master of the Junior Company), Astrid van Leeuwen (dance journalist), Frederik Redelé (member of the ballet committee) and Hans Scherpenisse (friend of Dutch National Ballet).

Edo Wijnen - short biography
Edo Wijnen was born in Deurne, Belgium. He studied at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp. At a young age, he won important prizes during the prestigious dance competitions of the Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix de Lausanne. He joined Dutch National Ballet in 2010 as an adspirant. He was soon promoted to member of the corps de ballet and then to coryphée, grand sujet and, in 2015, to soloist. For his role in Citizen Nowhere, he was previously nominated for the Zwaan (Swan) for 'Most impressive dance performance' by the Association of Theatre and Concertgebouw Directors.

Photo: Edo Wijnen in Citizen Nowhere by choreographer David Dawson
Photographer: Hans Gerritsen