Demi Bawon and Nova Valkenhoff are this year’s recipients of the Encouragement Awards from the Dancers' Fund, recognizing young Dutch dancers. Bawon trained at our school before joining NDT 2. As of this season, she has moved up to the main company, NDT 1. Bawon’s development resembles that of her young NDT colleague.

Theaterkrant.nl writes about this: "According to the jury, the young dancers Demi Bawon and Nova Valkenhoff were both technically very strong during their dance training, but also reserved, calm, perhaps even shy. When it came to expressive qualities, they didn’t always reveal themselves fully. However, last season, the jury observed how the two talents emerged from their shells at NDT 2. Concerning Demi Bawon, the jury’s judgment is as follows:

'In various choreographies, we saw how Demi brings a very personal interpretation to the dance material through her highly detailed, almost analytical way of working (…)'."

On the NDT website, Demi writes about what it means for her to dance with this group: "Throughout those years I learned so many valuable lessons about the art of dance, life in general, but most importantly I learned a lot about myself. I’ve realised that I become my most genuine self when I dance. It is a way for me to connect to whatever is hiding underneath my skin, to discover parts of me that I have not yet encountered and to project the thoughts and feelings deep inside of me which I’m unable to communicate through words."

The jury consists of the Dancers' Fund founders, Han Ebbelaar and Alexandra Radius, along with members Marian Sarstädt, Karin Schnabel, and Astrid van Leeuwen. The awards will be presented on 11 November during the Dutch Ballet Gala, held at the DeLaMar Theatre, Amsterdam.

Tickets: Available via the DeLaMar website

Photo of Demi: NDT