June Johnson Newcomer Prize

In cooperation with the Federal Office of Culture, we launched the June Johnson Dance Prize in 2013, which promoted young, innovative dance creations, in memory of June Johnson, the wife of Stanley Thomas Johnson. From 2021, the dance prize has been extended to include the performing arts. The prize is aimed at professional Swiss choreographers and dance ensembles, directors and theater groups who are at the beginning of their careers and whose work shows particular potential.

Award ceremony with Annina Mosimann im Theater Equilbre Fribourg in October 2025
©Adrian Moser

Prize winner 2025: Annina Mosimann

In October 2025, the June Johnson Newcomer Prize was awarded to Annina Mosimann as part of the Swiss Performing Arts Awards of the Federal Office of Culture.

From the laudatory speech by Beate Engel, Program manager culture:

«What happens when the body expands, when its boundaries dissolve? The audience can experience this when Bernese artist Annina Mosimann sits at a simple wooden table on stage and works with her materials. Is it theater, sound art, or puppetry? In any case, it is a magical moment when talking breasts and new creatures emerge from lumps of dough. In the play “Bestiarium,” a dwelling grows out of a transport crate, inhabited by curious objects as well as human and animal figures. Whether children or adults, we all want to move in there immediately.»

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Previous prizewinners

2024	Anna-Marija Adomaityte, TikTok-Ready Choreographies
2023	Marc Oosterhoff, Kompanie Cie Moost
2022	Isabelle Spescha, InQrdt
2021	Mirjam Gurtner, PLAY
2019	Marion Zurbach, Unplush
2017	Kiriakos Hadjiioannou, Hyperion – Higher States Part 2
2015	Daniel Hellmann, Requiem for a piece of meat
2013	Anna Anderegg, Dark Side Of The Moon