Youth America Grand Prix Winners Announced
For the last week, New York City has been teeming with bunheads, here to compete for over $300,000 in scholarships at Youth America Grand Prix. Out of 7,000 dancers who competed in regional semi-finals, 350 were selected as NYC finalists, with over 70 moving forward to Wednesday night’s final round. The winners were announced publicly yesterday evening and given a chance to perform one last time during YAGP’s glittering “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” gala at Lincoln Center—and they did not disappoint. Afterwards, a heavyweight list of international guest stars that included the Bolshoi Ballet’s Evgenia Obraztsova and Semyon Chudin, The Royal Ballet’s Melissa Hamilton and Eric Underwood, newly promoted Mariinsky principal Kimin Kim and American Ballet Theatre principals Isabella Boylston and Paloma Herrera, wowed the audience with a mix of world premieres and showstopping pas de deux.
Here’s a rundown of the results:
Senior Women:
1st place: Yu Kurihara, Ikuko Watanabe Ballet Studio, Japan
2nd place: Rio Anderson, City Ballet School of San Francisco, USA
3rd Place: Bianca Scudamore, Classical Coaching Australia, Australia
Senior Men:
1st Place: Shogo Hayami, John Cranko School, Germany
2nd Place: Austen Acevedo, Orlando Ballet School, USA
3st Place: Lang Ma, Washington School of Ballet, USA
Junior Youth Grand Prix Award: Shin-Yong Kim, Sunhwa Arts Middle/High School, Republic of Korea
Junior Women:
1st Place: Juliette Bosco, Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program, USA
1st Place: Maggie Chadbourne, Orlando Ballet School, USA
2nd Place: Kotomi Yamada, Yamada Chie Sunny Ballet School, Japan
3rd Place: Yeojin Shim, Yewon School, Republic of Korea
Junior Men:
1st Place: Liam Boswell, Next Generation Ballet at the Patel Conservatory, USA
2nd Place: Yago Guerra Bale, Johem de Sao Vicente, Brazil
3rd Place: Ryu Bautista, The McDonald School of Performing Arts, Australia
Hope Award:
Antonio Casalinho, Annarella Academia de Ballet e Dança, Portugal
Pas de Deux Award: Juliette Bosco and Theophilus Pilette, Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program, USA
Ensemble Award: Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in “Dance Boéhme.”