Credit: Bohumil Kostohryz
On Friday 17 September 2021, the first joint presentation of the Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis (Luxembourg dance prize) and the new Lëtzebuerger Theaterpräisser (Luxembourg theatre awards) took place at the Théâtre des Capucins in Luxembourg City.
Organised by Luxembourg's Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Theater Federatioun and the Centre de création choréographique luxembourgeois (Trois C-L), the award ceremony took place in the presence of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess and the Minister of Culture, Sam Tanson, as well as many artists and representatives of the cultural sector. It was directed by Fábio Godinho and presented by artist-storyteller Betsy Dentzer.
Winners
Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis
Elisabeth Schilling (choreographer, dancer)
Presented by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
Nationalen Theaterpräis (national theatre award)
Frank Feitler (playwright, director, theatre director)
Presented by Culture Minister Sam Tanson
Theaterpräis - Op der Bün (theatre award - on stage)
Marie Jung and François Camus (actress-actor duo for La Peste)
Presented by Sarah Rock and Nickel Bösenberg, co-presidents of the Theaterpräis jury
Theaterpräis - Hannert der Bün (theatre award - backstage)
Anouk Schiltz (scenographer and costume designer for a variety of plays, including Truckstop, Ivanov, The Hothouse and Le Poisson Belge)
Awarded by Sarah Rock and Nickel Bösenberg, co-presidents of the Theaterpräis jury
Theaterpräis - Nowuesstalent (theatre award - next generation talent)
Catherine Elsen (designer and actress)
Awarded by Claude Mangen, President of the Theater Federatioun
Prizes
The creation of the Lëtzebuerger Theaterpräisser, intended to be biannual, responds to long-standing demand in the sector for an enhancement of the theatre professions through such public recognition.
The Theaterpräisser have four categories endowed with €10,000 (Nationalen Theaterpräis), €4,500 (Theaterpräis - Op der Bün and Theaterpräis - Hannert der Bün) and €3,500 (Theaterpräis - Nowuesstalent) respectively.
The Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis has been awarded biannually by the Ministry of Culture since 2011. Endowed with €10,000, its objective is to reward the artistic merit of a choreographer or dancer.
For this first joint award ceremony, the winners also received a necklace with golden hands applause, designed by Luxembourg artist-designer Anne-Marie Herckes.
Juries
Lëtzebuerger Theaterpräisser
The choice of winners for these awards was organised in collaboration with the Theater Federatioun and covered the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. The members of the jury, appointed by the Minister of Culture, were: Vesna Andonovic (critic), Nickel Bösenberg (actor), Josée Hansen (responsible for literature and theatre at the Ministry of Culture), Claude Mangen (president of the Theater Federatioun) and Sarah Rock (playwright). The secretariat was provided by Pablo Chimienti of the Theater Federatioun.
Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis
The jury for this edition was composed of: Jill Crovisier (winner of the Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis 2019), Anouk Wies (head of cultural programming at the Cercle-Cité), Marie-Laure Rolland (independent journalist), Ivan-Vincent Massey (director of the Grand Studio in Brussels) and Raymond Weber (former national [Ministry of Culture] and international [Unesco, Council of Europe] culture official). The secretariat was provided by Sophie Thoma from the Ministry of Culture. For the first time this year, there was no longer an age limit to receive the Danzpräis and the selection is no longer made on the basis of a call for candidates. The endowment was also doubled compared to previous editions.
