New York Metropolis’s midtown streets had been abuzz with bunheads final week—it appeared in all places you seemed, you’d see massive teams of younger dancers, hair slicked and garment luggage in tow, dashing to a studio or to Lincoln Heart’s Koch Theater for Youth America Grand Prix. It was a nostalgic second; for a lot of its 25-year historical past, YAGP, the world’s largest pupil ballet scholarship competitors, held its Ultimate Spherical in New York Metropolis. It relocated its finals to Tampa through the pandemic—it’s logistically simpler and extra reasonably priced for dancers and their households, mentioned Larissa Saveliev, YAGP’s founder and inventive director. However with this being the competitors’s Twenty fifth-anniversary season, coming again to New York Metropolis was prime precedence.
“For us it’s actually significant,” Saveliev mentioned earlier this month throughout a cellphone interview. “It’s the place we began.” (Finals will alternate between New York Metropolis and Tampa going ahead, introduced yearly.)
To additional rejoice the anniversary, this 12 months’s festivities included a symposium for greater than 20 firm administrators, co-hosted by Dutch Nationwide Ballet inventive director Ted Brandsen and American Ballet Theatre’s incoming government director Barry Hughson. And on April 17, 353 YAGP rivals got here collectively at New York’s Plaza Resort to break the Guinness World File for essentially the most dancers to steadiness concurrently on pointe for one minute.
The week additionally included two star-studded galas, together with a Better of 25 Years gala that includes 36 artists from 15 corporations around the globe. Every bit included YAGP alumni, comparable to ABT’s Chloe Misseldine, Paris Opéra Ballet’s Bianca Scudamore, Dutch Nationwide Ballet’s Constantine Allen, Stuttgart Ballet’s Mackenzie Brown, Bavarian State Ballet’s António Casalinho, and lots of extra. “There are such a lot of dancers we needed to function that we couldn’t do it in a single night time,” mentioned Saveliev. “Most of them are younger principals and soloists, as a result of we needed to function the following technology of superstars.”
Initially, the forged additionally included Maria Khoreva and Kimin Kim of Russia’s state-run Mariinsky Ballet, which drew objections from native leaders and the Ukrainian consulate as a result of conflict in Ukraine. After being knowledgeable about doable protests on Thursday, YAGP leaders consulted with New York Metropolis Ballet, which manages Lincoln Heart’s Koch Theater, and determined to cancel the dancers’ performances shortly earlier than the present. (Protests by pro-Ukrainian activists went on as deliberate.) “It’s a choice that offers us nice ache,” YAGP mentioned in a press release. “Artwork ought to unite us, not divide us.”
“We’re very sorry that our reunion didn’t happen,” Khoreva wrote in an Instagram publish, “however artwork will at all times discover a strategy to human soul.”
The Awards
Over the course of the competitors, 120 finalists—out of two,000 dancers—had been chosen to take part in Wednesday night time’s Ultimate Spherical. The winners had been introduced at Saturday’s awards ceremony, together with many different dancers who acquired summer season intensive scholarships, invites to pre-professional coaching packages, and firm contracts.
Going ahead, Saveliev mentioned, YAGP plans to create extra alternatives for dancers outdoors of competitors, in addition to develop its Nervi Competition Summer season Workshop (a one-week “firm expertise” program held every summer season in Italy) to extra cities in Europe. “We wish to give younger dancers alternatives to carry out, not simply compete,” she says.
Should you missed the livestreamed awards ceremony, you’re in luck—we’ve compiled an inventory beneath. Congratulations to all of those that participated on this 12 months’s Ultimate Spherical, and a particular shout-out to all the hard-working lecturers and fogeys who made these dancers’ goals doable.
Senior Division
Grand Prix
GeonHee Park, 18, Korea Nationwide College of the Arts, South Korea
Senior Ladies
1st place: Ivana Radan, 15, Ellison Ballet Skilled Coaching Program, USA
2nd place: Crystal Huang, 15, Bayer Ballet Academy & The Rock Heart for Dance, USA
third place: MinJi Son, 18, Korea Nationwide College of the Arts, South Korea
Senior Males
1st place: Martinho Lima Santos, 18, Princess Grace Academy, Monaco/Portugal
2nd place: Joao Pedro Silva, 15, Balé do teatro Basileu Franca, Brazil
third place (tie): Grasp Li, 20, Beijing Dance Academy, China
third place (tie): Carson Willey, 17, The Rock College for Dance, USA
Junior Division
Junior Ladies
1st place: Tamison Soppet, 13, Convergence Dance Studios, New Zealand
2nd place: Annie Webb, 13, Moga Conservatory of Dance, USA
third place: Jolie Lavaux, 13, Boca Ballet Theatre, USA
Junior Males
1st place: Keenan Mentzos, 14, Ballet Bloch Canada, Canada
2nd place: Eric Poor, 14, Cary Ballet Conservatory, USA
third place: Eita Akita, 14, Wakui Ballet College, Japan
Pre-Aggressive Division
Hope Award
Owen Simmons, 11, The College of Cadence Ballet, Canada
Ladies, Classical
1st place: Yuna Yamada, 11, Kinue Kobayashi Ballet Studio, Japan
2nd place: SaRang Jang, 11, Maeen Ballet, South Korea
third place: Anne Takahashi, 11, Flora Ballet, Japan
Males, Classical
1st place: Spencer Collins, 10, Westside College of Ballet, USA
2nd place: Victor Rega Mas, 11, Synopsis Danse, France
third place: Yuto Teranishi, 10, Panda Ballet College (Takako Mori Ballet College), Japan
Ladies, Modern
1st place: Lior Wieder, 11, DanceWorks, Israel
2nd place: Ellary Day Szyndlar, 11, Grasp Ballet Academy, USA
third place: Anne Takahashi, 11, Flora Ballet, Japan
Males, Modern
1st place: Spencer Collins, 10, Westside College of Ballet, USA
2nd place: Kohaku Kihara, 11, Skhole Ballet Artwork, Japan
third place: Bogdan Eduard, 10, Dance Planet, Romania
Ensemble Division
Classical Pas de Deux
1st place: Minji Son, 18, and Seungmin Lee, 19, Korea Nationwide College of the Arts, South Korea
2nd place (tie): Núria Fernandes, 16, and Darius-Oriol Tamosi, 17, Conservatório Internacional de Ballet e Dança Annarella Sanchez, Portugal
2nd place (tie): Yasmin Sabag, 15, and Joao Pedro Silva, 15, Bale do teatro Basileu Franca, Brazil
third place: Sophia Jones, 17, and Colton Heath, 16, Feijóo Ballet College, USA
Modern Pas de Deux
1st place: Núria Fernandes, 16, and Darius-Oriol Tamosi, 17, Conservatório Internacional de Ballet e Dança Annarella Sanchez, Portugal
2nd place: Sachi Oza, 13, and Eric Poor, 14, Cary Ballet Conservatory, USA
third place: Yasmin Sabag, 15, and Marcus Rufino, 15, Bale do teatro Basileu Franca, Brazil
Classical Ensembles
1st place: Bayer Ballet Academy, USA
2nd place: The Rock College for Dance, USA
third place: Colorado Ballet Academy, USA
Modern Ensembles
1st place: Professione Danza Pescara, Italy
2nd place: Cary Ballet Conservatory, USA
third place (tie): Jun Lu Performing Arts, USA
third place (tie): The College of Cadence Ballet, Canada
Character Ensembles
1st place: OAEC, USA
2nd place: Ellison Ballet Skilled Coaching Program, USA
third place: Jun Lu Performing Arts, USA
Duet/Trio
1st place: DanceWorks, Israel
2nd place: Amirian Ballet Academy, USA
third place: The Rock College West, USA
Particular Awards
Makarova Award for Artistry: Viktoria Papakalodouka
Shelly King Award for Excellence: Chloe Helimets
Excellent Choreographer Award: Krista King-Doherty; Andrea Astuto
Excellent College: Korean Nationwide College of the Arts, South Korea
