Source: Radio New Zealand
When rising teenage ballet star Tamison Soppet found out she had been selected as candidate for Switzerland’s prestigious Prix de Lausanne she jumped for joy.
Waiting with her parents to join a two-hour ballet class in Paris, the shocked but smiling Christchurch 15-year-old was bursting with excitement when her mother called her over to break the news.
“Mum told me and I just jumped in excitement, I just had so much excitement inside me. For the rest of the class I had the biggest smile on my face. It was such a dream,” she said.
Tamison Soppet RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Tamison is the only New Zealander and one of just two dancers from Australasia chosen to compete at what is often regarded as the “ballet Olympics” in Lausanne in February.
As part of the application process, Tamison supplied a 15-minute video audition featuring barre, centre and pointe work, as well as a contemporary dance, demonstrating her artistic versatility and technical precision.
The selection jury of nine dance professionals viewed videos from 444 dancers from 43 countries, choosing just 81 to participate in the 2026 competition.
During competition week, dancers are marked on contemporary and classical classes and one classical and one contemporary variation.
While she would be up against the “best of the best”, Tamison said she was grateful for the opportunity to perform on the world stage.
“It’s going to be pretty tough but I’m just going to go there and enjoy myself and do my best. We’ve worked so hard to get to this point so I need to let it all go and show everybody how much I love it,” she said.
“Just getting over there and getting seen by all of these incredible schools is definitely going to be something big. I’m hoping that something can come out of it.”
Tamison’s journey to Switzerland began long before she stepped into a studio or tied the ribbons on her first pair of ballet shoes.
Her mother Toni Soppet said Tamison danced from the time she could walk, in the living room, down the hallway, anywhere music could reach her, “flying around with butterfly wings and cuteness”.
Toni Soppet and daughter Tamison Soppet RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Her childhood passion had developed into a dream that demanded discipline, resilience and countless hours of sacrifice, Soppet said.
Tamison trained at Convergence Dance Studios four days per week, all while managing studies at the correspondence school, Te Kura.
“She’s very determined. She works really hard. She’s not a typical teenager. She’s literally up at 7am, into the studio by 8am, and she’s training all day,” Soppet said.
“She comes home and she is exhausted – ice baths on the feet while having the computer on the lap to do school work – but she just has so much joy for it, she has so much love for it, that I can’t imagine her doing anything else.”
Soppet said it was always a moving, emotion-filled experience watching her daughter dance.
“Tears are in my eyes, she’s just breathtaking,” she said.
“I’m usually the side stage mum or in the dressing room or those kind of things but the moments that I do get to sit in the audience and actually watch her, it’s those awe moments. She’s a beautiful dancer and the expressiveness that comes from her is breathtaking.”
Tamison won the junior women’s title at the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix in New York last year at the age of 14, cementing her reputation as one of the most promising talents of her generation.
She has earned high distinctions in RAD and NZAMD exams, top placements in international competitions, gold medals, scholarships from elite institutions and is part of The Royal Ballet School’s international scholars programme.
Tamison has trained at Convergence under artistic director Olivia Russell since the age of 10.
Russell said the Prix de Lausanne was an extraordinary opportunity to make connections with elite ballet schools and companies.
“The Prix de Lausanne is an exceptional platform for dancers to launch their careers, to be seen by international directors, to really have their dreams come true and extend themselves as artists,” she said.
Olivia Russell RNZ / Nate McKinnon
“I’m over the moon, obviously very excited for her, and it’s very deserving. I feel like it’s the perfect step for her to move forward in her career and see her on the international stage.”
Russell likened the audition process to training for the Olympics. The Prix de Lausanne jury would assess dancers out of 100, with 25 marks each for the classical and contemporary classes and classical and contemporary variations.
“It’s very well-rounded. The emphasis is on a versatile dancer so everything is even. It’s not just a ballet competition, everything is looked at,” she said.
At the end of the competition week, a networking forum would give candidates who were not selected for the finals another chance to be seen by international schools and company directors interested in offering further training or job opportunities.
Russell said Tamison was a beautiful dancer with a strong work ethic and huge potential.
“She has exceptional turn-out and exceptional leg line and feet. Ballet is very aesthetic and so is dance. Her natural sense of line is quite innate. It’s kind of like architecture,” she said.
“She can make shapes when she’s dancing that leave lasting images to the person viewing them, so when you close your eyes after she’s danced you can still see that image. It’s a beautiful gift to be able to make your dancing extend past the stage into someone’s memory.
“She is like another daughter to me, so it has been a beautiful relationship with her family and the journey that we’ve gone on together. I feel very lucky.”
Tamison’s pursuit of her dancing dream has also come at a significant financial cost, so the Soppet family has set up a Givealittle page to help with contributions to pointe shoes, custom-made costumes, private coaching, strength and conditioning sessions, physio appointments and international travel.
She will next perform as Cinderella at Convergence Dance Studios’ end-of-year production on 7 December.
Tamison dreams of one day joining The Royal Ballet in London or Paris Opera Ballet and becoming a principal dancer.
“I love it so much, it just brings so much joy, even on hard days. I just love coming to the studio and getting to express my feelings through dance,” she said.
“I try to put everything I’ve worked on in the studio and rehearsals all on stage at the same time and make it my best.”
The Prix de Lausanne 2026 will take place from 1 to 8 February at the Beaulieu Theatre in Lausanne.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
