A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Dear friends,   We are absolutely delighted to be heading into our 20th Anniversary season. Our international events are off to a great start, having held a Semi-Final event in Brazil, and successful workshops in South Korea, led by our ambassador, YAGP Alum and ABT Principal, Hee Seo. Over the next few months, we will be heading to Peru, Indonesia, Japan, France, Italy, and Spain to discover young dancers who will one day grace the world's best-known stages as the next generation of dance. We are starting our North American Semi-Final season earlier in the fall of 2018 in order to accommodate the growing number of participants in California and in the Northeast.  We have been hard at work on expanding our educational program offerings with another exciting season of our "Ask the Expert" series, which became a highlight of last year's programming and gave our participants an inside look at important topics concerning their career and training. We are looking forward to bringing more educational events to everyone in the YAGP family in the coming months. We hope you join us at the 2019 Finals Week, culminating with the "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" Gala at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater on Thursday, April 18, 2019. We invite you to be part of our 20th Anniversary celebration and all that is new in the world of dance. Warm regards, Larissa Saveliev Artistic Director, Founder

YAGP ALUMNI IN THE NEWS

Catherine Hurlin and Sydney Dolan Receive 2018 Princess Grace Awards

Catherine Hurlin performing at YAGP in 2007

Catherine Hurlin in American Ballet Theatre's "Giselle" in 2017

Sydney Dolan performing at YAGP in 2014

Sydney Dolan in Pennsylvania Ballet's production of George Balanchine's "Rubies" in 2017

Isabella Boylston Organizes 2nd Ballet Sun Valley Festival in July 2018

Isabella Boylston performing at YAGP in 2001

Isabella Boylston as a Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre in 2017

James Whiteside to Premiere in Arthur Pita's "The Tenant" at The Joyce Theater on November 6 - 11, 2018

James Whiteside performing at YAGP in 2001

James Whiteside as a Principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre in 2017

Lauren Lovette Premiered New Choreography at The Joyce Theater in July 2018

Lauren Lovette performing at YAGP in 2006

Lauren Lovette as Juliet in New York City Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet" in 2015

Calvin Royal III and Lauren Lovette Premiered in Jerome Robbins' "Afternoon of a Faun" at the Vail Dance Festival in August 2018

YAGP Alum and American Ballet Theatre Soloist Calvin Royal III and YAGP Alum and New York City Ballet Principal Lauren Lovette in Jerome Robbins' "Afternoon of a Faun" at the Vail Dance Festival as part of the Jerome Robbins Centennial

"[It] was wonderful to see Calvin Royal III of American Ballet Theatre dance the Robbins “Faun.” His combination of elegance, grace and — above all — inwardness drew you deeply into the “Faun” world." - Alastair Macaulay , The New York Times

Distinguished YAGP Alumni and Participants Performed in Festival Ballet Theatre's 11th Annual “Gala Of The Stars” in August 2018

YAGP Alum and American Ballet Theatre Soloist Skylar Brandt and YAGP Alum and American Ballet Theatre Corps de Ballet Member Aran Bell perform in "Flames of Paris" at the Festival Ballet Theatre's "Gala Of The Stars"

YAGP Alumni Skylar Brandt and Julian McKay are the First Ever American Competitors on Russia's #1 Dance Show

YAGP Alum and American Ballet Theatre Soloist Skylar Brandt on Russian TV's new season of Bolshoy Ballet premiering fall 2018

Previous season winners included YAGP Alumni Sergei Polunin and Kimin Kim and YAGP Alum Amanda Gomes as a competitor.

NEWS FROM OUR PARTICIPANTS

With the generous support of patrons like you, YAGP nurtures young talent from all over the world. We are proud to share compelling stories from several dancers who participated in YAGP last year and are now closer to achieving their dreams.

Melvin Lawovi - 18 years old - Toulouse, France

After winning First Place among the senior men in the 2018 Barcelona Semi-Final, Melvin was hand-picked to join American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company by the ABT JKO School's Artistic Director, Cynthia Harvey. When asked where he sees himself in 5 years, Melvin said, "I see myself dancing as a lead role... I wanna feel new things and learn from the others... And since this competition I had a revelation. Now I’m not just thinking about where I see myself but more how can I be where I want [to be]. And YAGP was a big impact in my life because one week after the Semi-Final, I was on a plane going to New York for my new life with the [ABT] Studio Company!"

Jessica Phan - 14 years old - Las Vegas, NV

Jessica, originally from Guam, was adopted at the age of 10 by her grandparents after her mother passed away. Her trajectory as a dancer has been meteoric. We learned from her family that the solace she finds in performing is her way of communicating with her mother, and it's onstage that she feels closest to her. At the 2018 Las Vegas Semi-Final, Jessica's emotional performance earned her the Youth Grand Prix Award and an invitation to the New York City Finals. She received numerous scholarship offers, eventually joining the Houston Ballet Academy where she is currently in her first month of training.

HOW TO SUPPORT YAGP

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT OUR MISSION AND HELP CREATE SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR DESERVING YOUNG DANCERS Do you shop on Amazon? By shopping on smile.amazon.com , Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to YAGP to help us realize the next generation of dancers' dreams. Go to smile.amazon.com today and select Youth America Grand Prix Inc as your charity of choice.

WHAT'S NEXT

Save the date for YAGP's "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" 20th Anniversary Gala April 18, 2019

STAY CONNECTED WITH US

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For any questions or to make a donation, please contact Anna Covatta, Assistant Director of Operations and Development at (646) 541-4592 or acovatta@yagp.org.

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