Sophie Hulthéns Circus Grant

In memory of the world citizen and circus enthusiast Sophie Hulthén, a grant has been instituted that will be awarded to a graduate student at the circus education at the University of Dance and Circus. It is the single most valuable grant to a circus student in Europe and it will be awarded to a student showing exceptional talent in combination with successful studies and artistic maturity. The grant can also be awarded to a group of students working together. The purpose of the grant is to further the development of circus art through the promotion of new young artists.

The receiver of the 2010 Sophie Hulthén Circus Grant is
Alexander Weibel Weibel

Motivation
Using his own invented discipline, the Multiple Slack Ropes, he is in search of new choreographic methods of re-shaping reality. The ropes create layers of both inward and outward space. This, combined with an evident musicality and feeling for the movement of body and objects, shows the strong potential for development in this most gifted artist. Through persistent research and poetic presence, he will move the circus art forward toward new forms of expressions. It is with great pleasure we present the 2010 Sophie Hulthén Grant to Alexander Weibel Weibel.

The recipient of the grant was nominated by a jury that consisted of Circus Artist and Pédagogy Director of the Académie Fratellini Valerie Fratellini, Circus Artist Siri Hamari, Theatre Director Lars Rudolfsson and Choreographer Efva Lilja, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dance and Circus, as chairperson.

The sum of the grant is SEK 100 000.

Sophie Hulthén 1967-2008
Sophie Hulthén was the chief legal advisor at Euroclear in London. She grew up in Stocksund and Los Angeles, studied in Lund, Oslo, Harvard and Brugges. She worked at the department for fair trade at the European Commission in Brussels and later as a legal counsel in various connections.

Besides her official career, Sophie Hulthén was a creative person. She expressed herself through what she could make at her sewing-machine, by flamenco dancing, snowboarding and ceramics, but one of her strongest dreams and ambitions was to apply herself to the art of circus. In 2007 she took a sabbatical to complete a year of circus training in Bristol where her disciplines were the trapeze and juggling. That year of training was interrupted by a cancer disease. Sophie passed away at the age of 41.