The Australian Ballet Awards, celebrating its 19th year in 2022, is one of the most prestigious prize in Australian Ballet, provided by the Australian Ballet in partnership with Telstra.
Nominated by past winners, principals, ballet staff, and artistic directors, Rina says that the nomination was "meaningful" and a "great honor."
David Hallberg, Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet said in a statement, “this nomination and recognition of a dancer’s dedication is immensely valuable towards the development of their hard work. All the nominees have dealt with their time away from the stage with determination and focus".
Rina who was born in Tokyo, began ballet lessons at the age of 3.
"I was a very active girl, dancing all the time"
Rina began to think about dancing professionally by the time she was in her final years at primary school, and moved to Paris at the age of 15 on her own, to follow her dream.
She later joined the Royal Ballet in London, before joining the Australian Ballet in 2011. She was promoted to coryphée in 2016 and to soloist in 2018
Rina Nemoto joined the Australian Ballet in 2011 Source: Australian Ballet
This is the 4th time Rina is nominated for the award, the last was 4 years ago in 2018.
Since then, Rina has played one of the biggest role in her career, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, but has also experienced the pandemic and the prolonged lockdown, where performances were halted for almost 2 years.
The lockdown affected Rina both mentally and physically.
"I was constantly worried about my body changing, and whether I can return to the pre-pandemic condition"
Although she trained and exercised everyday, the inability to perform on a stage hit her very hard.
'The pandemic has made me cherish the stage more than ever before' she tells SBS Japanese.
Now, every stage, every performance has more meaning to Rina.
Rina says that the Australian Ballet is "like a family" and their support was crucial during the pandemic when Rina couldn't see her own family.
She says this family like connection, and the desire to make one performance together, really resonates with the audience.
The Australian Ballet is also an inclusive organization, welcoming dancers of any background, says Rina.
"People look at me as a dancer, not by my background" she explains.
"It is a very comfortable environment to dance"
Winners of the 2022 Telstra Australian Ballet Awards will be announced at Sydney Opera House on Tuesday 5 April 2022, following opening night of The Australian Ballet’s production of Anna Karenina. The winners will be chosen by a panel of judges from The Australian Ballet and Telstra.
For Rina's audio interview in Japanese click below
Listen to SBS Japanese Radio on Tue, Thu and Sat from 10pm
