Over 2,000 aspiring dancers around the globe poured into New York City over this past week to participate in the Finals for the 25th Anniversary of Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP).
YAGP has been attracting the ballet community under its acronym since 1999, some even calling it “The Superbowl of Ballet”. The non-profit organization hosts an annual ballet competition to award students with scholarships and contracts to top dance companies around the world.
In YAGP’s twenty-five years of impact – during which the competition gained popular fame through the 2011 documentary film First Position – the organization has awarded $5 million in scholarships with up to $500,000 awarded annually.
And just earlier this month, the United States Senate recognized the cultural and educational contributions of YAGP throughout its quarter decade of service as the official National Youth Dance Competition of the United States.
Unfortunately, a few politically-motivated moves this year caused distraction from what is intended to be a unifying international event.
Notably, the scheduled performances from Mariinsky Ballet dancers Maria Khoreva, May Nagahisa, and Kimin Kim were cancelled at the last minute due to pro-Ukrainian activists’ threats, solely based upon their association with the Russian organization.
As a result, the program denied the audience exposure to one of the most prestigious ballet institutions, and it makes one wonder what kind of message this is sending to the younger generation of dancers: Perhaps they might be banned one day if they’re not leaning towards a particular political direction?
YAGP 2024 Winners
For YAGP 2024, approximately 15,000 dancers traveled to audition in over 11 countries and 120 were selected to perform in the Final Round on the David H. Koch Theater stage at Lincoln Center.
The Grand Prix was awarded to GeonHee Park, 18, from Korea National University of Arts in South Korea.
First place in the Senior Women category was awarded to Ivana Radan, 15, from Ellison Ballet in New York, USA; second place to Crystal Huang, 15, from Bayer Ballet Academy in California, USA; and third place to MinJi Son, 18, from Korea National University of Arts in South Korea.
First place in the Senior Men category was awarded to Martinho Lima Santos, 18, from Princess Grace Academy in Monaco; second place to Joao Pedro Silva, 15, from Balé do teatro Basileu Franca in Brazil; and third place to Hang Li, 20, from Beijing Dance Academy in China and Carson Willey, 17, from The Rock School for Dance in Pennsylvania, USA.
First place in the Junior Women category was awarded to Tamison Soppet, 13, from Convergence Dance Studios in New Zealand; second place to Annie Webb, 13, from Moga Conservatory of Dance in Utah, USA; and third place to Jolie Lavaux, 13, from Boca Ballet Theatre in Florida, USA.
First place in the Junior Men category was awarded to Keenan Mentzos, 14, from Ballet Block Canada in Canada; second place to Eric Poor, 14, from Cary Ballet Conservatory in North Carolina, USA; third place to Eita Akita, 14, from Wakui Ballet School in Japan.
The Hope Award was granted to Owen Simmons, 11, from The School of Cadence Ballet in Canada.
Awards were also given in the categories for Pre-Competitive Age Division, Classical Dance Category in Men and Women, Contemporary Dance Category, Classical Pas de Deux, Contemporary Pas de Deux, Character Ensembles, Classical Ensembles, Contemporary Ensembles, Duet and Trios, Makarova Award for Artistry, Shelley King Award for Excellence, Outstanding Choreographer Award, and the Outstanding School Award.
YAGP 2024: 25th Anniversary Gala
After Wednesday evening’s final round, YAGP celebrated its twenty-five years of success with a gala program which also took place at the David H. Koch Theater.
The organization invited a star-studded cast of professionals from around the world who previously competed before fame to perform for the “stars of tomorrow.” The tech team projected videos of the professionals performing in YAGP as children as they danced onstage and the vignettes were interspersed with speeches celebrating the competition’s impact.
The program opened with the Grand Defilé of the YAGP 2024 Finalists choreographed by Carlos dos Santos, Jr., followed by:
- Flight of the Bumblebee choreographed and danced by ABT Studio Company’s Brady Farrar
- More Than Nothing, a world premiere by ABT’s James Whiteside, danced by Isabella Boylston, Catherine Hurlin, and Jake Roxander
- DEA by Maria Konrad, danced by Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s Adji Cissoko and English National Ballet’s Vsevolod Maievskyi;
- An excerpt from Balanchine’s Who Cares? danced by NYCB’s Isabella LaFreniere;
- Tuplet by Alexander Ekman, danced by Nederlands Dans Theater’s Jon Bond;
- Onegin Act II Pas de Deux by John Cranko, danced by The Stuttgart Ballet’s Elisa Badenes and Martí Paixà;
- Tito! choreographed and danced by international guest artist Nnamdi Nwagwu
- Le Grand Pas de Deux by Christian Spuck, danced by ABT’s Skylar Brandt and Daniel Camargo;
- Bolero X by Shahar Binyamin and danced by the YAGP International Contemporary Ensemble;
- Le Corsaire Suite by Marius Petipa, danced by Chloe Misseldine, Aran Bell, Constantine Allen, Bianca Scudamore, Elisabeth Beyer, and Brady Farrar.
YAGP 2024: "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow: Best of 25 years" Gala
Vibrant young dance talents from all over the world, the “Stars of Tomorrow” shared the stage with today’s trending dance stars, the “Stars of Today”, capturing just how YAGP is a universe of its own. The 400 children were the evening’s highlight; in an encore performance of Grand Defilé, they launch the show into a stand-alone spectacle.
Performances from these students with indisputable technique accompany those of the professionals throughout the night, and it’s a struggle to pledge any favorites. How can the judges pick just a few winners from an entire galaxy of winners?
From classical ballet to the ultra contemporary, the program left no repertory styles behind.
The Stars of Today constellate on stage with their own sparkles (most are YAGP alums) with Elisabeth Beyer, Antonio Casalinho, and Brooklyn Mack shining particularly bright in Don Quixote (as Queen of the Dryads), Les Bourgeois, and Gopak, respectively.
Mackenzie Brown and Adhonay Soares de Silva of The Stuttgart Ballet exemplify in A Dialog, a tension-filled contemporary pas that eventually drifts apart from stationary gestures while the pristine footwork by Bianca Scudamore and Germain Louvet during La Sylphide deepens any obsession with Paris Opera Ballet.
New York City Ballet‘s Emma Von Enck and Roxander dance joyfully in George Balanchine’s lively Tarantella as if they just tied the knot, and Badenes and Paixà’s interpretation of Lady of Camellias is like watching a couple bourrée backwards into each other’s souls.
Brandt and Daniel Camargo entertain in the comédie-ballet Le Grand Pas De Deux while ABT colleagues Aran Bell and Chloe Misseldine dance the 3rd Act pas deux in the closing Don Quixote Suite. Bell, a protagonist in the aforementioned First Position, continues to be a role model for those looking on from the wings.
And The Royal Ballet’s Melissa Hamilton stuns in the world premiere of Joshua Beamish’s Hungarian Dances.
As in the gala the evening before, video testimonials from the stars share their educational experiences at the competition.
The Royal Ballet principal dancer Marcelino Sambé enthusiastically discloses how he wanted to train harder after his experience competing at YAGP years prior to his stardom, and Skylar Brandt, principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and popular YAGP title holder, testifies that when she was studying ballet, she couldn’t attend a friend’s birthday party because she had ballet rehearsals.
YAGP 2024: Closing Thoughts
As a feeder organization for professional companies and schools, YAGP sets the bar for how future dancers will waltz down the ballet pipeline. Unlike the more selective annual Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, YAGP is a global network that forges the web of dance relationships which would otherwise be a challenge to attain.
The overall experience boasts a commodious impact on the lives of its participants. And although, ultimately, the responsibility to pursue ballet rests on the shoulders of the individual dancers, the YAGP influence will linger long after the rental tutus are returned and the lights on the stage fade to black.
Featured Photo for this wrap-up of YAGP 2024 of Grand Prix winner GeonHee Park in Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique. Photo by Luke Kwo, courtesy of YAGP.
