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Youth America Grand Prix
World’s Largest
Ballet Scholarship Competition
Stars of Today Meet the Stars of
Tomorrow Gala Returned
to
New York City
The beautiful and
young, in their best evening dresses, flocked last night to
the Alice Tully Hall for Youth
America Grand Prix (YAGP) 2023 Stars of Today Meets
the Stars of Tomorrow Gala. YAGP Founder Larissa
Saveliev and Board Chair Richard Osterweil welcomed
guests as they filled the theater. The gala chair, Marcella
Hymowitz, looked stunning in pink chiffon, or as Barbara
Tober, a gala veteran, put it, “she floats around the
room in that dress. She’s perfect!”
Marcella was the
driving force behind the evening’s success, part of every
decision, including crafting (with her young daughters) the
four-foot-tall spring flowers that decorated the room. In
her short speech she said, "Sometimes dance can LITERALLY
save lives. Since February 2021, YAGP has worked tirelessly
to relocate Ukrainian ballet students displaced by war. One
of them – 16-year-old Nikita Malaki - performed here
at Lincoln Center tonight! Nikita is one of the 200
Ukrainian dancers whom YAGP has placed on scholarship at
leading dance schools in Europe and the United States. YAGP
wishes a heartfelt 'thank you' to the Howard G. Buffett
Foundation, whose generous support has made it possible for
YAGP to continue doing this important work."
Standing with
Marcella were her co-hosts Paul Arnhold, Elissa Brenner,
Lili Buffett, Grace Fuller Marroquin, Wes Gordon, Alyson
Gradone, Rebecca Hessel Cohen, Sarah Hoover, Lilli Hymowitz,
Marcella Hymowitz, Eve Jobs, Lindsay Kraus, Candice Miller,
Colby Mugrabi, Grace Pomeranc, Indre Rockefeller, Daniela
Tisch, Virginia W. Tomenson, Lesley Vecsler, and Lina
Wallach.
The Gala kicked off YAGP’s 25th Anniversary season, with a
program that featured the World Premiere of Reflective
Response #1, danced by Michaela Mabinty DePrince*, choreographed
by My’Kal Stromile, both from Boston Ballet.
Accompanying the piece was 15-year-old prodigy singer Paloma
Dineli Chesky and Grammy Award-nominated pianist David
Chesky, performing live. Israeli
choreographers, Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal, presented
rarely seen works performed by YAGP International
Contemporary Dance Ensemble (ICE), made up of 35 dancers,
spanning 15 countries. An excerpt from Ohad’s Decadance invited
audience participation. Dancers made their way into the
audience inviting guests - including Andrew Martin-Weber -
on stage to dance with them.
Guests include YAGP Board
Members John Beukelman, Barbara Brandt, Sergey Gordeev,
Gabriel Hoffman, Carrie and Jonathan Kaufman, Kamie
Lightburn, as well as Kara Acker, Maria Cristina
Anzola, Sarah Arison, Mollie Acquavella, Ashley Bouder, J
Alex Brinson, Linda and Martin Fell, Amy Fine Collins, Luiza
and Steve Gold, Judith Hoffman, Breanna Khoury, Molly Knauer,
Allie and Will Kopelman, Beejan Land, Dylan Lauren, Allie
Meixner, Andrew Martin-Weber, Michaela Moinian, Alberto
Mugrabi, Wendi Murdoch, Taylor Olson, Samantha
Pariente, Karine Plantadit, Jason Pomeranc, Scott
Sartiano, Mariel Sholem, Gabe Stone Shayer, Allyson Tang,
Barbara Tober, Tal
Waksal, Yael and Oded
Weiss, Hal Witt, and Christian
Zimmermann.
The program included
a NY solo debut from Italy’s Jacopo Tissi (La Scala
Ballet) dancing the U.S. Premiere of an excerpt from, The
Ninth Wave. Tissi also danced Le Corsaire Act II
pas de deux with Christine Shevchenko* (ABT). Jun
Masuda* (Tulsa Ballet) and Shale Wagman*
(Bavarian State Ballet), danced the U.S. Premiere of Hungarian
Dances, and Wagman joined Evelina Godunova (Berlin
State Ballet) for a pas de deux from Flames of Paris. Tiler
Peck (NYC Ballet) and Roman Mejia (New
York City Ballet) performed a pas de deux from George
Balanchine’s Tarantella, Constantine Allen* (Dutch
National Ballet) performed 5 Tango’s, and Chloe
Misseldine* (ABT) performed William Tell. Claudia
Mota and Allen performed the iconic pas de deux from Le
Parc by Angelin Prejlocaj.
Sharing a stage with
these ballet superstars were YAGP’s 2023 competition winners
(stars of tomorrow), ages 9 - 19, dancing favorites Harlequinade,
Paquita, Für Elise and more. This season over 15,000
talented young dancers auditioned for YAGP around the globe
and in 23 U.S. cities. At the Finals, YAGP awarded over
$500,000 in scholarships to 300+ dancers to attend the
world’s best dance institutions! In addition to
scholarships, more than 30 YAGP participants have already
received professional contract offers, with more to come in
the weeks following the competition.
*YAGP Alumni
About Youth America
Grand Prix
Youth America Grand
Prix is the largest global network of dance. YAGP fulfills
its mission of dance education through scholarship
auditions, master classes, alumni services, performances,
and education. For the past 24 years, over $4.5 million has
been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance
schools, with up to $500,000 now awarded annually. Since
YAGP’s founding in 1999, over 200,000 young dancers – ages 9
to 19 – of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds have
participated in YAGP's international workshops, audition
classes, and dance awareness events. Today, more than 12,000
young dancers audition annually. More than 450 Youth America
Grand Prix alumni are now dancing with 80 professional
companies around the world, including American Ballet
Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston
Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal
Ballet (UK), Mariinsky Ballet and many others. Over 100 of
these alumni are soloists and principal dancers. Larissa
Saveliev founded Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) after
training and touring with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in
Moscow, before moving to the United States in the early
90's. |