Tuesday 6 April was a big night for Nathan Brook. Not only did he perform in the opening night of The Australian Ballet’s triple bill New York Dialects at the Sydney Opera House – the first time the company had performed in Sydney in more than a year – but he took home both the Telstra Rising Star Award and the Telstra People’s Choice Award. In the process, he pocketed a combined prize of $40,000.

Nathan Brook is presented with the 2020 Telstra Ballet AwardsNathan Brook is presented with the 2020 Telstra Ballet Awards. Photograph © Lisa Tomasetti

The announcement is usually made in Sydney on the opening night of the final production for the year, but had to be postponed because of COVID. Instead Telstra Chief Executive Officer Andrew Penn presented the Awards as the curtain fell on New York Dialects. The exhilarating program, which features Balanchine’s Serenade and The Four Temperaments, as well as the world premiere of Pam Tanowicz’s Watermark, won a five-star review from Limelight.

Brook won the two 2020 Telstra Ballet Awards from a field of six nominees, which included soloist Imogen Chapman; coryphée Jasmin Durham; corps...