FORMER Queanbeyan dancer Dimity Azoury has been named a 2012 Telstra Ballet Dancer Award nominee – The Australian Ballet’s highest honour.

Azoury began dancing at four years old in Queanbeyan. She studied for 11 years at the Kim Harvey School of Dance in Canberra before moving to Melbourne to join The Australian Ballet School in 2005. There she travelled to America and Canada on exchange and to the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. She joined The Australian Ballet in 2008.

Azoury joins fellow nominees Calvin Hannaford, Amy Harris, Ako Kondo, Jarryd Madden and Jake Mangakahia, who were chosen by The Australian Ballet’s artistic staff, previous winners of the award and principal artists.

The six dancers were judged on their performances throughout 2011, the ongoing development of their skills and their support of fellow company members.

Introduced in 2003 to encourage young Australian ballet dancers to reach their full potential, the Telstra Ballet Dancer Award has catapulted some of The Australian Ballet’s brightest stars into the stratosphere, including Matthew Lawrence (2003), Amber Scott (2004), Lana Jones (2005), Daniel Gaudiello (2007) and Kevin Jackson (2008).

The winner, announced near the end of 2012, will be decided by an industry panel – comprising of representatives from The Australian Ballet, Telstra and the media – and will receive a $20,000 cash prize from Telstra.

The People’s Choice Award has a $5000 prize and is decided by public vote.

More information at telstra.com/ballet or australianballet.com.au.