2024 YAGP Winners Introduced, Capping Twenty fifth Anniversary Celebration

New York Metropolis’s midtown streets had been abuzz with bunheads final week—it appeared in all places you appeared, you’d see massive teams of younger dancers, hair slicked and garment baggage in tow, speeding to a studio or to Lincoln Middle’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 Closing Spherical in New York Metropolis. It relocated its finals to Tampa in the course of the pandemic—it’s logistically simpler and extra inexpensive for dancers and their households, mentioned Larissa Saveliev, YAGP’s founder and creative 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 telephone interview. “It’s the place we began.” (Finals will alternate between New York Metropolis and Tampa going ahead, introduced yearly.)

To additional have a good time the anniversary, this yr’s festivities included a symposium for greater than 20 firm administrators, co-hosted by Dutch Nationwide Ballet creative 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 Lodge to break the Guinness World Document 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 firms world wide. Each bit included YAGP alumni, reminiscent of 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 plenty of extra. “There are such a lot of dancers we wished to characteristic that we couldn’t do it in a single evening,” mentioned Saveliev. “Most of them are younger principals and soloists, as a result of we wished to characteristic the subsequent technology of superstars.”

Initially, the solid 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 warfare in Ukraine. After being knowledgeable about potential protests on Thursday, YAGP leaders consulted with New York Metropolis Ballet, which manages Lincoln Middle’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 provides 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 put up, “however artwork will all the time discover a option 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 evening’s Closing Spherical. The winners had been introduced at Saturday’s awards ceremony, together with many different dancers who obtained summer time 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 Pageant Summer season Workshop (a one-week “firm expertise” program held every summer time 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 a listing beneath. Congratulations to all of those that participated on this yr’s Closing Spherical, and a particular shout-out to the entire hard-working academics and fogeys who made these dancers’ goals potential.

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 Middle 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): Cling 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