BERLIN (AP) — Eight young dancers have emerged from an annual competition in Switzerland with ballet scholarships.

The Prix de Lausanne was launched in the Swiss lakeside city in 1973 and has become an annual fixture.

The competition is open to dancers of any nationality who are between the ages of 14 and 19.

Twenty-one dancers from various countries took part in Saturday's final, watched by a jury under Ted Brandsen, the director of the Dutch National Ballet.

The winners, who are 15 to 18 years old, get a year of free tuition at one of 72 schools and professional dance companies.