Philippe Braunschweig Grant Recipients 2026

Rihannon Watkin-Fairless and Brandon Demmers

Rihannon Watkin-Fairless (stage name: Rhiannon Fairless) is a professional ballet dancer and Demi Soloist with the Bayerisches Staatsballett. Her international career has spanned New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Germany, including engagements with the The Royal New Zealand Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and The Australian Ballet. Alongside her performing career, she has pursued psychology academically while working full-time as a dancer, completing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and First Class Honours at Massey University. Rhiannon is using her IOTPD Philippe Braunschweig Grant to undertake a Master of Professional Psychology at University of New England by distance learning 2026–2028.

Brandon Demmers is a Canadian professional ballet dancer whose career has taken him across Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. He trained at the Canada’s National Ballet School before continuing postgraduate studies at the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam. In 2015, he joined the Bayerisches Staatsballett II, performing internationally with the junior company and within the Bayerisches Staatsballett repertoire. From 2017–2024, he danced in Poland with Teatr Wielki w Łodzi Beginning in September 2026. Brandon will use his IOTPD Philippe Braunschweig Grant to study as an Aircraft Structures Technician at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.