For Immediate Release
P
Youth
America Grand Prix partners with
Prix
de Lausanne to create a global network of opportunity for young dancers
worldwide
Youth America Grand Prix 2007 NYC Finals
n New York City n April 27 – 30,
2007
“Stars of Today Meet the Stars of
Tomorrow” YAGP 2007 Gala n
NY City Center n
Monday, April 30th, 2007
New York, NY (February 15, 2007)
– The world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition, Youth America
Grand Prix, opened its 8th season with a participant exchange
program with Prix de Lausanne (Switzerland), which would allow dancers from
each competition to benefit from the scholarship opportunities available at
both. According to the agreement
between the competitions, finalists who have not received a scholarship at one
of the competitions will be eligible to participate in the other without having
to pass the selective rounds. By combining their scholarship-giving capacities,
these two of the most important scholarship competitions in the world hope to
create a wider network of opportunity for young dancers worldwide. Details are
available on the YAGP website, www.yagp.org.
YAGP’s other season news includes partnering with the International Ballet
Festival of Miami (IBFM) to create performance opportunities for YAGP participants
at the Festival alongside some of the leading international ballet stars.
Names of the YAGP finalists chosen to proceed to the 2008
edition of the Prix de Lausanne as part of this exchange program will be
announced at the YAGP 2007 Finals scheduled take place in New York City on
April 27-30, 2007 and culminating with the annually sold-out YAGP Gala, “Stars
of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” on April 30th, 2007. The Gala will feature the leading stars of
Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Ballet of the Teatro
National do Rio do Janeiro, ABT, NYCB, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, MOMIX,
and the international finalists of the competition.
Tickets
to “Stars of Today
meet the Stars of Tomorrow” Gala are $150, $100, $75, and $45, and can be
purchased by calling CityTix® at 212.581.1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org or in
person at NY City Center Box Office located on West 55th Street
between 6th and 7th Avenues. For more info, visit www.YAGP.org
.
As America’s first and the world’s
largest student ballet scholarship competition, Youth America Grand Prix has
revolutionized the process of professional development for young dancers
everywhere. Founded in 1999 by two former Bolshoi Ballet dancers,
Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev, this New York-based 501(C)(3) international
non-profit educational organization annually awards over $200,000 in
scholarships to the leading dance schools worldwide in addition to providing
the opportunity to receive professional job contracts to dance companies around
the world. YAGP offers dance students
the rare opportunity to be seen, taught and professionally guided by the
directors and faculty of the world’s foremost companies and schools, including
American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, The Ailey School, Australian
Ballet School, Canada’s National Ballet School, John Cranko School of Stuttgart
Ballet (Germany), La Scala Ballet Academy (Italy), Paris Opera Ballet School
(France), and The Royal Ballet School (England), among others.
Through its programs and activities,
YAGP serves as the “internet of the dance world,” a global network of
opportunity for young dancers. In 2005,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
recognized YAGP’s contribution to international dance education by awarding it
with a membership in UNESCO’s prestigious Conseil
International de la Danse (CID).
In
YAGP’s 8 years of operation, YAGP has awarded over $1,000,000 in scholarships
to the world’s leading dance schools.
Over 10,000 dancers have participated in YAGP’s international workshops,
competitions, and auditions. Over 100 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 50
companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet,
San Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, and Eifman Ballet
of St. Petersburg, among others.
YAGP
2007 Season is sponsored by Bloch, Capezio, Grishko, Gaynor Minden,
So’Dança, Discount Dance Supply, Dance Magazine, Pointe magazine, Dance
Spirit magazine, Sylvia Co., Swarovski, and Tutu.com.
- continued on page 2 of 2 -
Youth America Grand Prix
announces participant exchange program with
Prix
de Lausanne, offers performance opportunities at Int’l Ballet Festival of Miami
Press Release, page 2 of 2
Created in 1995 under the artistic
direction of Pedro Pablo Peña, International
Ballet Festival of Miami has become one of the most important ballet
festivals in the United States. Now in its 12th season, it has
presented such important dance companies as the English National Ballet, San
Francisco Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Miami Contemporary Dance Company and the
Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami among many others. The Festival has become a
Fall staple on the South Florida dance calendar with five performances at four
theaters in three cities. It also
includes other arts-related activities such as Dance Films, official IBFM
poster unveiling a fine arts competition inspired by dance, workshops, master
classes and the Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the Grand Classical
Gala of the Stars.
Prix
de Lausanne was created in 1972 in Switzerland by
Philippe and Elvire Braunschweig and is the original European ballet
scholarship competition for dance students. Now in its 35th year,
the competition has established itself as a traditional venue on the
international classical dance scene.
Open to dance students between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, Prix de
Lausanne gives dancers opportunities to connect with international dance schools
and be seen by artistic directors of companies like Béjart Ballet
Lausanne, the American Ballet Theatre and the Ballets de Monte Carlo. Past
winners include ABT’s Alessandra Ferri, Julie Kent, and Ethan Stiefel, the
Royal Ballet’s Alina Cojocaru and Carlos Acosta, and current NYCB resident
choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, among many others.
Larissa
Saveliev, Artistic Director of YAGP, says, “We are
thrilled to partner with two of the world’s most renowned and respectable dance
organizations to expand the opportunities we provide to young dancers from
around the world – because YAGP is so much more than
a competition; the competition is only a small part of our organization. YAGP,
at its core, is an international festival of dance, a living and breathing
organism, a global network that keeps working throughout the year, connecting
dancers, students, festivals, companies, and schools worldwide.”
YAGP 2007 Jury Panel will include, among others (full details at www.yagp.org):
Philip Broomhead,
Ballet master of Houston Ballet
Eleanor D’Antuono,
Artistic Director, New York International Ballet Competition
Franco de Vita,
Director of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at ABT
Eva Evdokimova,
Prima Ballerina Assoluta, representing Princess Grace Academy of Classical
Dance (Monaco)
Marianne
Kruuse, Director of Hamburg Ballet School (Germany)
Gregor
Hatala, Principal Dancer, Vienna State Opera Ballet; Aristic
Coordinator, Spoleto Dance Festival (Italy)
Tadeusz Matacz,
Director of the Stuttgart Ballet’s John Cranko School (Germany)
Arlene
Minkhorst, Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
(Canada)
Mikko
Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet
Frederic
Olivieri, Director, Ballet of La Scala (Milan, Italy)
Madeleine
Onne, Artistic Director, Royal Swedish Ballet (Stockholm,
Sweden)
Kirk
Peterson, Artistic Director of ABT Studio Company
Elizabeth Platel,
Director of Paris Opera Ballet School (France)
Marilyn Rowe,
Director of Australian Ballet School (Australia)
Bo
Spassoff , Director of the Rock Center for Dance
Education
Gailene Stock,
Director of the Royal Ballet School (U.K.)
Garry Trinder,
Director of New Zealand School of Dance (New Zealand)
Septime
Webre, Artistic Director, Washington Ballet
Diana White, Associate of The George Balanchine Trust
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