Youth America Grand Prix A Revolution in Dance
The YAGP 25th Anniversary Gala
I’m generally not into revolutions; but, as revolutions go, this one is pretty big – and I am definitely a fan.
The revolution in question? The one started by Youth America Grand Prix – the world’s largest student ballet competition, when it revolutionized the world of dance by radically changing the way the world’s dance schools and companies look for talent.
It did so by creating a global network of dance – a centralized, global pipeline of opportunity for dance students worldwide to audition for scholarships to the world’s leading dance academies. It also gave dance schools and companies around the world access to virtually any talented young student anywhere on Earth.
“If we knew how much work this would be, we probably wouldn’t have done it,” laughs the mastermind behind the revolution, Larissa Saveliev, the charismatic Russian ballerina who started it all 25 years ago. “Back then, there were all these dance students looking for a place to study – and all these schools looking for talented students, but there was not one place where they could all meet.”
Youth America Grand Prix became that place – now conducting auditions in more than 30 U.S. cities and 15 countries worldwide. The most talented and promising of them gather in New York in April of each year for what has now become the world’s largest dance family gathering – where they audition for hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to the world’s leading dance academies.
Susan Jaffe
Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre
The result? 450 YAGP alumni are now dancing in 80 companies around the world – including such preeminent companies as the Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada,
Stuttgart Ballet – and, of course, New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, America’s national ballet company.
Susan Jaffe – the celebrated American ballerina who became the Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre last year – says it is difficult to overestimate YAGP’s role as a major pipeline of dance talent. A champion for young talent throughout her entire career, Jaffe was involved in YAGP from the very beginning, serving as a mentor, teacher and a scholarship presenter for countless aspiring young dancers. “Right now,” she says, “60 out of 92 ABT company dancers are YAGP alumni – and so are 7 out of the 12 dancers in the ABT Studio Company, the junior company of ABT.”
One of these celebrated YAGP alumni at ABT is Calvin Royal III, how a Principal Dancer. Royal III participated in YAGP almost two decades ago – and credits YAGP with the opportunities it took for him to succeed. “Youth America Grand Prix provided an opportunity to have a pathway for exposure in the dance world, and access to scholarships. It has been a springboard for dancers of color, like myself, for decades – and, as a Principal Dancer of American Ballet Theatre today, I am proud to say I have joined the roster of many incredible artists worldwide who also took part in YAGP.
Iconic YAGP Gala
If there is one place where the impact of YAGP is the most obvious, it is the iconic YAGP Gala, which serves as the culmination of the week-long Season Finals. Traditionally held at Lincoln Center, it features some of the most promising young talent from around the world alongside some of the most celebrated dancers performing today, in one spectacular evening of dance.
Over the years, the star-studded YAGP Galas featured New York debuts and farewell performances of some of ballet’s biggest superstars. They have included such international celebrities as Natalia Osipova (Bolshoi Ballet), Roberto Bolle (La Scala Ballet), Darcey Bussell (Royal Ballet), Polina Semionova and Daniil Simkin (Berlin State Opera Ballet), stars of American Ballet Theatre Misty Copeland, Skylar Brandt, David Hallberg and Diana Vishneva, Broadway sensations like Robert Fairchild, and stars of New York City Ballet such as Tyler Peck, Daniel Ulbricht and Wendy Whelan, to name a few.
Mick Jagger, Melanie Hamrick, The Olsen twins & Alan Cumming
The stage is not the only place for celebrity sightings at YAGP – there are also plenty of them in the audience. The YAGP Gala attendees have included the likes of Mick Jagger, Cicely Tyson, the Olsen twins, Nicolas Sarcozy, Katie Couric, and Chelsea Clinton, as well as celebrity Gala hosts – Alan Cumming, Hoda Kotb, and Keltie Knight.
Why do they come? For sure, to be entertained. Some come to see the young stars of tomorrow before they burst out internationally. But there is also something deeper than that.
Larissa pauses before answering the question why dance is so important to her personally, and to the audiences that have kept coming to YAGP for the past 25 years. “Dance gives us a powerful way to express our humanity, to discover and communicate our unique voice. It allows us to connect to ourselves and to each other in a way that is just not possible in any other artform. It makes us better humans – and makes the world a better place.”
The YAGP 25th Anniversary Gala will take place on April 18, 2024 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. For tickets, visit www.yagp.org
