Kathleen McNurney

As a young dancer, I had the wonderful opportunity in 1980 to join the Basel Ballet under the direction of Heinz Spoerli, which is when I became acquainted with the Prix de Lausanne and was impressed then, as I still am today, with its mission and goals.
This is a unique dance competition which does not only focus on one technically brilliant performance, but which offers a week of workshops, classes and coaching for all participants to gain valuable experience and knowledge from. And as the dancers of today are required to have the technical tools for both classical ballet as well as contemporary dance, I applaud the Prix de Lausanne for offering these participants the chance to explore so many different styles of dance in their classes and workshops, preparing them for both their competition performance and their futures.
The Prix de Lausanne goes beyond “talent scouting” – it offers “talent nurturing”. Especially in challenging times such as these, this support has never been more necessary for young dancers.
I greatly admire the work which goes into making this happen and am proud and honoured to be a member of this distinguished jury Prix de Lausanne 2022.

Born in the USA, Kathleen McNurney began her ballet training in her hometown Portland Oregon and completed her professional dance education at the Harkness School for Ballet Arts in New York City, under the direction of David Howard. She received her first professional engagement in 1975 with the Irish Ballet in Cork, Ireland. In 1980 she joined the Basel Ballet, under the artistic direction of Heinz Spoerli, where she remained as a soloist until 1988, dancing in a wide range of classical works including Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Nutcracker. During these years the Basel Ballet toured extensively to international destinations including China, Japan and Israel, and in addition to the classics, performed both creations and repertoire works by choreographers such as Spoerli, Balanchine, van Manen and Christie.

Upon ending her stage career, she remains active as a ballet mistress, company teacher and choreographic assistant in various European and Swiss dance companies, including the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (1992/93), Staatstheater Braunschweig (1993/96), Lucerne Ballet (1996/99), Zurich Ballet under the direction of Heinz Spoerli (1999/2003) and Ballet Basel with Richard Wherlock (2004/09).

In 2009/10 Ms. McNurney is appointed Artistic Director of the company Tanz Luzerner Theater. After 12 successful seasons and by the end of her era in 2020/21, she proudly curated and produced a total of 36 dance evenings with 54 world premieres and 9 repertory pieces. Under the credo “we move to move you”, she is able to build up a loyal dance public in the city, offering a wide spectrum of dance styles and creative directions. With her keen eye for young talent, Kathleen invites up-and-coming choreographers such as Brian Arias, Po-Cheng Tsai, Fernando Melo and Cayetano Soto to create for the company, as well as obtaining repertory pieces from established choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Johan Inger and Stephan Thoss. Under her artistic direction, “Tanz Luzerner Theater” has been invited to perform at the Holland Dance Festival, Belgrade Dance Festival and the Context Diana Vishneva Festival in Moscow. The company was selected to open the Migros-Kulturprozent Tanzfestival Steps 2020 at the Luzerner Theater and received an invitation to perform Po-Cheng Tsai’s commissioned ballet Alice at the Taiwan International Festival of Arts 2021.

In addition to her work of over a decade as Artistic Director of Tanz Luzerner Theater, Kathleen has always remained involved in various aspects of the Swiss dance scene. She has been a board member of Danse Suisse (Swiss Association of Professional Dance) since 2012 and, as of June 2021, has taken over the position of President. She is a school partner, teacher and consultant at The Dance Center Luzern and has been a member of the juries for both the Migros-Kulturprozent scholarship selection and the video preselection of the Prix de Lausanne. She has also served as a jury member in four editions of the Copenhagen International Choreography Competition, an established platform for new choreographic talents.

Kathleen has been and remains active as a guest teacher both nationally and internationally. Her current guest commitments include teaching at the BA Dance program at Zürich Arts University (ZHdK) and Codarts Arts University Rotterdam.