The names of the candidates selected for this year’s prestigious Genée International Ballet Competition have been announced by the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and among more than 50 dancers taking part there are 20 Australians ­– the largest representation from any single country.

Dancers at the 2017 Genée International Ballet Competition in Lisbon. Photograph © Bruno Simao

This year’s Genée will be held in Hong Kong, where it was held in 2006. The week-long event will be hosted next month by Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and Hong Kong City Hall, with the semi-finals taking place on August 9 and 10, and the final on August 12. Thirteen nationalities will be represented with dancers from Hong Kong, the UK, New Zealand, the US, Canada, France, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Mexico, South Africa and Taiwan joining the 20 Australians.

The Australians selected are Romy Adair, Meredith Berends, Zoe Brady, Lily Carbone, Abigail Drew, Caitlin Garlick, Joshua Green, Kendall Harris, Jessica Ho, Claire Lecuona, Dominie Lythgoe, Emma Mackie, Beatrice Manser, Hugo Poulet, Gabriel Rogers, Penelope Rojas-Antonuccio, Portia Secker, Shontaya Smedley, Lauren Sowter and Lucinda Worthington-Shore. British dancer Chloe Jackson, and Japan’s Enoka Sato, both...