A young ballet student performs a contemporary solo onstage in front of a blue backdrop at YAGP. She wears a brown embellished leotard and tan socks, and does a développé à la seconde with her right leg lifted high. She raises her arms up above her head and looks straight ahead at the audnience.

Youth America Grand Prix competitor Morgan Ligon. Photo by Star Action Shots, courtesy YAGP.

Watch YAGP’s Junior and Senior Final Round, Livestreamed Thursday and Friday

April 6, 2023

This week, more than 1,700 young dancers have been vying for scholarships at the Youth America Grand Prix 2023 Finals in Tampa, Florida, at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts. The finalists are in the process of being narrowed down, with the Junior Women and Men Final Round commencing tonight (April 6) at 7:30 pm EDT and the Senior Women and Men Final Round on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 pm EDT. Both rounds will be livestreamed on YAGP’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, so you’ll be able to check out these talented young hopefuls anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony—which will also be livestreamed—on Sunday, April 9, at 3 pm EDT.

Of course, one of the highlights of the weekend will be the annual Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala, held Saturday, April 8, at the Straz Center, when select competitors will perform alongside international guest artists from the worlds of ballet, Broadway, and ballroom. Many of them, including American Ballet Theatre’s Skylar Brandt, James Whiteside, and Chloe Misseldine, and Dutch National Ballet’s Constantine Allen and Young Gyu Choi, are YAGP alumni.

As if that were not enough, YAGP is kicking off its 25th-anniversary season with another Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow gala on April 11, this time at Lincoln Center in New York City. Competition winners will join stars like Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia (New York City Ballet), Christine Shevchenko and Chloe Misseldine (ABT), Michaela Mabinty DePrince (Boston Ballet), Jacopo Tissi (La Scala Ballet), Shale Wagman (Bayerisches Staatsballett), Claudia Mota (Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro), Constantine Allen (Dutch National Ballet), Evelina Godunova (Staatsballett Berlin), and Jun Masuda (Tulsa Ballet). Another special guest performing is 16-year-old Ukrainian dancer Nikita Malaki, now a student at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia, thanks to a grant through the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for YAGP’s Ukraine relief efforts. Profits of the gala will go towards the competition’s initiatives to relocate Ukrainian ballet students to schools in Europe and the U.S. for safe haven.

Tune in to watch the final rounds tonight and tomorrow—we wish all those competing a very big “merde”!