Jason Beechey has been rector of the Palucca University of Dance Dresden in Germany since 2006. Trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg and the School of American Ballet in New York, he danced as a soloist with London City Ballet and for fifteen years with Charleroi/Danses in Belgium. At the same time, he was pedagogical director for the Centre chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and founded and directed his own centre, The Loft, and was the creator/coordinator of the D.A.N.C.E. Programme under the artistic direction of Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor and Angelin Preljocaj. In 2009, he joined the Prix de Lausanne as a member of the Artistic Committee, and is now associated with the Prix as a host for the Live Stream; he is also a regular member of the jury for the Youth America Grand Prix and a member of the Interim Management Team - Dance Academy Zurich.