Japanese choreographer won the Aarhus International Choreography Competition - AICC 2010

Aoi Nakamura (JP) stood stone-still while the 150 spectators applauded at the end of the choreographic biennale at Archauz. It took almost a minute for the message to sink in that she had won.

Her work Ototoxic, danced by herself and Australian Matthew Tusa, swept the competition, reaping the first prize of 50,000 Danish kroner. The announcement was made on Saturday evening, June the 12th, just one hour after the international jury had retired to deliberate their choice.

The jury - consisting of Archauz artistic director and choreographer Louise Friis (DK), artistic director and choreographer Marie Brolin-Tani (SE), dance critic (Dance Europe) and associate professor of art and culture (Open University, London) Maggie Foyer (GB), musician Silas Bjerregaard (DK), and film director Aage Rais-Nordentoft - wrote in their opinion about the two winners:

"First Place Choreography Winner, Aoi Nakamura, brings an innovative choreographic voice to her work, Ototoxic,. She combines well-planned magical moments, which come across as coincidence, together with a toughness that masks vulnerability."

"Second Place Choreography Winner, Virginie Brunelle, wins the audience over with an unexpected comedy and sadness in her piece Gender Complex. Its precision and stretch are performed to perfection. Its text is a mix of raw human emotions translated directly into motion and expression that makes its choreographic language unique."

The Best Dancer Award was voted by the AICC audiences on Thursday and Friday evenings, during the preliminary rounds of the competition. Each audience member, using a written ballot,  had the chance to vote only once each evening for that dancer they meant performed best. There was a clear majority for Claudine Hébert, who danced in Virginie Brunelle’s piece Gender Complex.