Cory Stearns of the American Ballet Theater, left, and Elena Lobsanova of the National Ballet of Canada take a bow on Wednesday evening after being named the 2009 winners of the Erik Bruhn Prize. (Bruce Zinger/National Ballet of Canada)

Elena Lobsanova, a member of the National Ballet of Canada's corps de ballet, and Cory Stearns, a soloist with the American Ballet Theater, won the Erik Bruhn Prize at the Erik Bruhn Competition in Toronto on Wednesday evening.

The competition, which celebrates young dance talent, awards a prize to both a male and a female dancer.

Toronto-based independent choreographer Matjash Mrozewski won the competition's new choreographic prize.

Lobsanova, 22, danced a pas de deux from Le Corsaire for the classical section and Mrozewski's newly commissioned work, Dénouement, with Noah Long, for the competition's contemporary section.

Stearns danced the Black Swan Pas de Deux from Act III of Swan Lake for the classical section and End, a new work by Marcelo Gomes, for the contemporary section with Isabella Boylston.

Ten dancers from the National Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, the Royal Danish Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet competed for the award, which carries a cash prize of $7,500.

The competition has been held sporadically since 1988. Bruhn, the National Ballet's artistic director from 1983 until his death in 1986, bequeathed part of his estate to establish the prize.

One of five choreographers who competed for the new choreographic award, Mrozewski, 33, took the prize for Dénouement. He received $2,000 and a sculpture by Canadian artist Jack Culiner.

Mrozewski grew up in Sudbury, Ont., and was trained at the National Ballet School. He became first soloist at the National Ballet in 2000 and left the company to devote himself to choreography in 2001.

Lobsanova was born in Moscow and came to Canada with her family in 1991. She trained with the National Ballet School and joined the National Ballet in 2005.