SRB: Nesta Toumine Memorial Award

The Society of Russian Ballet presents the Nesta Toumine Memorial Award annually to students that display outstanding technical merit and exceptional artistic development in the Vaganova style. Members of the Society’s Examining Committee, following the annual examination season, put the names of potential recipients forward for consideration.

Nesta Toumine was a charter member and examiner for the Society of Russian Ballet. She was a Canadian-born dancer, who performed with the prestigious Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. In the early 1960’s Madame Toumine started the first professional Canadian ballet company in Ottawa called the Classical Ballet Concert Group of Ottawa. Numerous former students have continued on to highly visible positions in the Canadian and international dance community. This memorial award was created in 1996 after Madame Toumine passed away.

For further information about the life of Nesta Toumine see Canadian Dance Visions and Stories edited by Selma Landen Odom and Mary Jane Warner

Year	Dancer	City & Province	Teacher
2008	Victoria Ward	Nepean, ON	Ewa Zielinski
2006	Valerie Saija	Stoney Creek, ON	Irina Egorova
2004	Hannah Mae Cruddas	Dartmouth, NS	Leica Hardy
2003	Ivana Casic	Mississauga, ON	Rajka Kupesic
2003	Laura Suppa	Woodbridge, ON	Sharon Ralston
2003	Fiona Morrison	Sudbury, ON	Denise Vitali
2001	Angel Jutzi	New Hamburg, ON	Donna Bender
2000	Amanda Murphy	Ottawa, ON	Merle Adam
1999	Chalice Valeriano	Hamilton, ON	Vitek Wincza
1998	Tiffany Mosher	Halifax, NS	Leica Hardy
1998	Courtney Nelson	Waterdown, ON	Irina Egorova