The Hnatyshyn Foundation Joysanne Sidimus Ballet Grant
The Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Joysanne Sidimus Ballet Grant, of $10,000, is designed to support an exceptionally talented young dancer by bridging the gap between their full-time training and professional life. Canadian dancers entering the final or penultimate year of a full-time, multi-year recognized post-secondary educational program, or entering a full-time educational, training, or apprenticeship program of one year or less at a recognized ballet company, are eligible. Both students and apprentices are eligible.
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The 2026 call for nominations has closed. We encourage you to subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on future calls (see the registration form in our website’s footer).
Please review the full guidelines at the following link before submitting a nomination: guidelines
To submit a nomination, please download and fill out the nomination form and send it to director@rjhf.com with a one-page letter of nomination.
Successful candidates and their nominating institutions or teachers will be notified in late June or July. No jury comments will be provided. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
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Melia Lin is in her final year in the National Ballet School’s Ballet-Academic Program.
Courtesy of Melia Lin.
“I started ballet when I was little, but it wasn’t until I saw a production of Swan Lake that I knew I truly wanted to spend my life dancing. The place that has shaped me the most has been Canada’s National Ballet School, which I joined at 11. It has become my second home, a place where my teachers and the artistic directors have pushed me, believed in me, and taught me how to grow not only as a dancer but as a person.
One of the hardest things for me has been learning to trust myself on stage. For a long time, I used to be scared of making mistakes, of not being good enough. Over the years, the trust my teachers showed in me has given me the courage to change. I will never forget my first big role in George Balanchine’s Haieff Divertimento. I was not originally cast in the principal part, but Margaret Tracey asked me to take it on. On opening night, I walked on stage smiling so wide I could not hold it back. I felt so connected to my partner and the music that the mistakes I made seemed trivial. That was the moment I felt like I evolved from just a student to a true artist, and it was also the happiest I had ever been dancing.
I am so grateful to my teachers, especially Miss Timashova, who taught me to approach ballet with love even on the hardest days. I now step on stage not with fear, but with joy. Ballet has given me resilience, confidence, and a kind of happiness that I carry with me everywhere, and I cannot wait to bring that into the next chapter of my career.
I am truly honored to receive the Joysanne Sidimus Grant. As I begin my final year at Canada’s National Ballet School, this support will allow me to pursue auditions around the world for my dream ballet companies. This prize lifts the weight of financial worry and gives me the freedom to fully focus on my dancing and future career.”
Courtesy of Melia Lin and Canada’s National Ballet School.
Jury
Olena Saltykova, former Principal Dancer, Kyiv Modern Ballet, and laureate of a Hnatyshyn Foundation Ukraine – Heritage, Spirit, and Future Award
Anya Nesvitaylo, Principal Dancer, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
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Alexander Stevens is a student at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto. He is enrolled in the Company Life Program, which provides rigorous ballet training and professional development opportunities for dancers after their completion of high school.
“When I was young, I had a big imagination and I would entertain my family with stories, dances and songs that I created. I loved watching shows with music, singing and dancing. When I was three, my parents took me to see the National Ballet of Canada’s The Nutcracker and I loved it. I started taking ballet lessons because I wanted to do what I had just seen.
I began studying at Canada’s National Ballet School when I was ten. I have been fortunate during my time there to work with teachers and students from all over the world and to connect with them intensely through ballet. I have come to understand that ballet as an art form has the power to communicate beyond spoken language and across geographic and cultural boundaries.
I love dancing classical ballets that tell the stories that have been a tradition in ballet throughout its history. I also thoroughly enjoy the abstract quality of contemporary dance and exploring the unstructured flow of movement within the body. I have been fortunate to work with talented choreographers on new works. It is deeply satisfying to be a part of the creative process of making something new and to bring it to life through ballet.”
“I aspire to join a ballet company that is renowned for its commitment to both classical and contemporary ballet. That way, I can play an integral part in keeping the classical ballets that I love so much alive and be deeply involved in the creation of ballet’s ever-evolving contemporary vocabulary. I hope to embark on a lifelong journey of exploring ballet and dance in all its forms and give back to the art form in a meaningful way.
I am thrilled and honoured to be awarded the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s inaugural Joysanne Sidimus Ballet Grant. This grant provides me with generous financial support as I attend the Company Life Program at Canada’s National Ballet School and allows me to fully focus on transitioning to a professional ballet career. I am so grateful for this opportunity to pursue my love of dance and to grow as an artist.
I am truly appreciative of the support that the Hnatyshyn Foundation provides to performing artists and would like to thank the jury members for this inspiring recognition. I would also like to thank Mavis Staines and my ballet teachers for their incredible guidance and encouragement.”
Jury
Stevens was selected from a nation-wide pool of candidates from Canada’s top ballet schools. The jury was composed of Arlene Minkorst, Martin ten Kortenaar and Jillian Vanstone.
Arlene Minkhorst, now retired, has worked as the School Director Emeritus at the Tulsa Ballet Center for Dance Education, as the Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and as an international guest teacher and adjudicator.
Martin ten Kortenaar is a soloist with the Staatsballet in Berlin. In 2013, he received the Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant for Classical Ballet (awarded from 2005-2013).
Jillian Vanstone danced with the National Ballet of Canada from 1999 to 2022, where she was principal dancer from 2011 onward. Since her retirement from dancing, she has been teaching and coaching around the world, including at the Queensland Ballet in Australia and at the Royal Ballet and Opera in the United Kingdom.
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The Hnatyshyn Foundation is extremely proud to name this award after Joysanne Sidimus, one of Canada’s most esteemed ballerinas and a former board member of The Hnatyshyn Foundation.
Photo: Aleksandar Antonijevic.
As a répétiteur for The George Balanchine Trust, Joysanne Sidimus has staged Balanchine’s works for dance companies and schools the world over. Born in New York , Ms. Sidimus studied under Mr. Balanchine at the School of American Ballet and then joined his New York City Ballet. She later performed as a soloist with London’s Festival Ballet and as a Principal Dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada. Ms. Sidimus is co-founder of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre and was its Executive Director for twenty years. She was also the founding Vice President of the Artists’ Health Centre, a comprehensive health care facility for artists at Toronto Western Hospital. In 2003, she was awarded the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal and in 2006, she received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Dance – 2006).
“Gerda Hnatyshyn was one of the most influential people in my life and so I am deeply honoured to see my name attached to her beloved foundation for this scholarship.
Mrs. Hnatyshyn was a woman of unswerving energy, creativity, and commitment to the goals of the Foundation. I also knew her to be elegant, diplomatic, generous and a true friend. Her hand-written notes remain with me as lovely memories of this exceptional woman.
Heartfelt gratitude to famed philanthropist Lynda Hamilton for her generosity in funding this honour,” said Ms. Sidimus.
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The Hnatyshyn Foundation sincerely thanks Lynda Hamilton for generously funding this award and suggesting we name it in honour of her friend and colleague, Ms. Sidimus.
Photo: Aleksandar Antonijevic.
A passionate advocate for the physical and mental health of performing artists, Ms. Hamilton has dedicated her career to supporting initiatives and institutions that offer artists support at various stages of their careers. Notably, along with Ms. Sidimus, Ms. Hamilton was a co-founder of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre, a national charitable organization dedicated to helping dancers make necessary transitions into, within, and from professional performing careers. She also founded the Valleyview Artist Retreat, offering free, week-long retreats for artists and arts administrators to find inspiration and respite. In 2021, Ms. Hamilton was honoured with the prestigious Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Volunteerism in the Arts.
