A Vision in Ribbons

Auckland ballerina 16-year-old Hannah O’Neill — who recently won first prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland — is in her second year at the Australian Ballet School and “has a luminous quality that you just can’t teach”, according to competition judge Australian Ballet’s artistic director, David McAllister. O’Neill describes herself as “tallish” at a slim 170 centimetres, with glistening black hair inherited from her Japanese mother and a smile widely described as gorgeous. She joined the school 12 months ago after winning an international competition in New York, moving from Auckland where her parents live with her two younger brothers. O’Neill has been studying dance since she was three when her mother took her to classes in Japan. “She is a huge talent,” said the school’s director, Marilyn Rowe. “She has physique, musicality, intelligence and beauty but is such a grounded girl.”