Dear friends,
As Youth America Grand Prix begins its 20
th
year, we invite you to join us in remembering the significant achievements of 2018 within YAGP’s global network of dance. YAGP provides scholarship auditions and performance opportunities for dance students and serves as a credential for entrance into the dance community. Our alumni are dancing in every major ballet company on the world’s stage. Our thanks to you --- our participants, parents, teachers, friends, donors, sponsors, partners and audiences who have supported our scholarship auditions, master classes, performance opportunities, education initiatives and have made all things possible. Together we celebrate twenty years and look forward to ensuring the future of dance.
Warmest Regards,
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Larissa Saveliev
Artistic Director, Founder
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YAGP continues to follow the successes of its alumni around the world. We're proud to share some of the most exciting awards and promotions our Alumni received this year. For more alumni news, visit
www.yagp.org
.
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YAGP Alumni among Dance Magazine's
25 To Watch in 2019
We are pleased to recognize the YAGP Alumni who are included in this year's list:
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Jessica
He
performing at YAGP 2014
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Aran Bell
, Company Member at American Ballet Theatre
Sydney Dolan
, Company Member at Pennsylvania Ballet
Jessica He
, Company Member at Atlanta Ballet
Sophie Miklosovic
, Company Member at Ballet Met
Chisako Oga
, Principal Dancer at Cincinnati Ballet
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YAGP Alumni noted in Pointe Magazine's
2018 Standouts
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Among the 2018 Pointe Magazine Standouts are performances by three YAGP Alumni, working in companies across the US.
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Lonnie Weeks
(San Francisco Ballet) in Christopher Wheeldon's
Bound To
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Nozomi Iijima
(Houston Ballet) in Stanton Welch's Just
Grace-Anne Powers
(Ballet Met) in Edward Liang's Giselle
Lonnie Weeks
(San Francisco Ballet) in Christopher Wheeldon's Bound To
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YAGP Alumni
Catherine Hurlin
and
Sydney Dolan
received the prestigious Princess Grace Award in 2018.
To see the full list of award recipients,
click here
.
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Catherine
Hurlin performing at YAGP in 2007
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Catherine
Hurlin
performing as a Company member with American Ballet Theatre
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Sydney
Dolan
performing at YAGP 2014
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Sydney
Dolan
performing as a Company member with Pennsylvania Ballet
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YAGP Alum and English National Ballet Principal dancer
Isaac Hernandez
received the 2018 Benois de la Danse award in the Best Dancer category.
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Isaac
Hernandez
performing at YAGP in 2003
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In 2018, the winner of Prix de Lausanne was
Shale Wegman
, a student at the Princess Grace Academy in Monaco, which he attended on a scholarship he received at YAGP 2014 Finals. Other winners in the 2018 Prix de Lausanne include YAGP Alumni
Hanna Park
,
Wenjin Guo
,
Xinyue Zhao
,
Miguel Angel David Aranda Maidana
,
Carolyne Galvao
and
Aviva Gelfer-Mundl
.
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Shale
Wegman
, performing at YAGP 2014)
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USA INTERNATIONAL BALLET COMPETITION
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YAGP Alumni who received prestigious medals at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS in 2018 include
Yunting Qiu (
China),
Sangmin Lee (
Republic of Korea),
Soobin Lee
(Republic of Korea),
Katherine Barkman
(USA)
David Schren
k (USA)
Chisako Oga
(USA),
Elisabeth Beyer
(USA),
Hyuma Kiyosawa
(Japan),
Julia Rust
(USA),
Carolyne Galvao (
Brazil),
Harold Mendez
(USA)
Joseph Markey
(USA),
Tia Wenkman (
USA)
Rheya Shano
(USA) and
Mya Kresnyak
(Canada).
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Elizabeth
Beyer
performing during YAGP 2018
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Over 450 of our alumni dance at more than 80 professional dance companies around the globe. We are proud to congratulate several alumni who received promotions this year. For more alumni success stories, visit
www.yagp.org
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Constantine Allen
joined Dutch National Ballet as Principal Dancer for the 2018-2019 Season. On photo: Allen with partner Anna Tsygankova in Christopher Wheeldon's
Cinderella
earlier this year. (Photo by Marc Haegeman)
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Adhonay Soares da Silva
performing at YAGP in 2012
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Adhonay Soares da Silva
performing in 2018 (photo from Instagram)
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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE (NY, USA)
BOSTON BALLET AND BOSTON II BALLET (MA, USA)
Hannah Bettes - Soloist
(The Royal Ballet School, UK | Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, USA)
DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET (NETHERLANDS)
Constantine Allen - Principal
(John Cranko School of the Stuttgart Ballet, GERMANY | Kirov Academy of Ballet, USA)
ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET (UNITED KINGDOM)
MARIINSKY THEATRE (RUSSIA)
NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA (CANADA)
THE ROYAL BALLET (UNITED KINGDOM)
STUTTGART BALLET (GERMANY)
THE TOKYO BALLET (JAPAN)
Arata Miyagawa - Principal
(John Cranko Ballett Schule, GERMANY | Tsubota Ballet School, JAPAN)
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May Nagahisa
at Mariinsky Ballet, where she was promoted to Soloist after her first year with the company
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Lauren Lovette premiered new choreography
At the Joyce Theater in July 2018
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Lauren Lovette
competing at YAGP in 2007
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Lauren Lovette
working on her own choreography at New York City Ballet in 2018
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James Whiteside
performing at YAGP in 2001
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James Whiteside
in a promotional image for Arthur Pita's "The Tenant" (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
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Amanda Gomes, Skylar Brandt, Julian McKay among winning participants in Russia's popular
"Big Ballet" television competition
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Amanda Gomes
performing at YAGP 2013
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Amanda Gomes
as company artist of the Tatar State Theater ballet, performing in "Big Ballet" with partner
Wagner Carvalho
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Skylar Brandt
was a non-competing partner to
Julian MacKay
, but received the special Jury prize, awarded by famed dancer and choreographer, Azariy Plisetskiy
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Among the repertoire for the show,
Skylar Brandt
(Soloist, American Ballet Theatre) and
Julian MacKay
(First soloist, Mikhailovsky Theatre) performed choreography by Sebastian Bertaud, featuring costumes by Balmain.
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Some YAGP Alumni achieve success beyond the world of dance, and find their calling with other artistic endeavors, including film. Here are some former participants and winners, featured on the big (and small) screens this year.
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Alum
Sergei Polunin
and
Jennifer Lawrence
in a scene from
Red Sparrow
(2018)
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YAGP Alum and International Principal Dancer
Aaron Smyth
performed with
Misty Copeland
in Disney's
Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
On Photo: Aaron performing at YAGP in 2010 (Photo by Gene Schiavone)
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Alumna
Juliet Doherty
starring in the film
On Pointe
(2018)
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2018 SEASON AROUND THE WORLD
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Jolie Lombardo
, 14 - 1st place winner in the Junior Classical category at YAGP 2018 Finals
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For the first time, Final Competition was held at SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center. Over 1200 young dancers from 37 countries performed and took master classes, while evaluated by an international panel of judges comprising directors of some of the world's leading dance institutions and companies. The Final week included many educational events, including a scholarship conference with YAGP Artistic Director Larissa Saveliev and Scholarship Director Haruko Kawanishi, and a Dance in Higher Education presentation led by faculty of the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The full list of winners and scholarship recipients in the 2018 Finals is available on
www.yagp.org
.
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2019 Season International Semi-Finals
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Milda Luckute
, 14 (Lithuania) - 1st place in the Junior Classical category at the Paris semi-final
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Senior men
Gabriel Figueredo
(Brazil/Germany)
Hugo Fraresso
(Italy) and
Pol
Monsech Simón
(Spain) pose with other winners at the Award Ceremony during the Barcelona semi-final
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During our successful 20
th
Anniversary International season, YAGP conducted educational workshops in Australia, Brazil and Japan, held our first scholarship auditions in Indonesia and retuned to Paris, Barcelona, and Cattolica, Italy. The YAGP Team worked diligently to offer unique opportunities to qualifying dancers, with more than 300 receiving scholarship offers to date.
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YAGP 2018 GALA "STARS OF TODAY
MEET STARS OF TOMORROW"
April 19, 2018
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The YAGP Gala “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center featured a varied cast with live musicians joining our dancers onstage. Talented YAGP participants danced alongside professional dance artists from American Ballet Theatre, Dutch National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and New York City Ballet. The program featured a World Champion Ballroom dancer, an Aerial performer and a YAGP alum who was a winner of “So You Think You Can Dance.” The Gala culminated with YAGP’s Grand Defile where over 300 young dance students from a multitude of countries, speaking a myriad of languages took the stage as one world of dance. A spectacular gala dinner followed the performance on the Promenade graciously chaired by Marcella Guarino Hymowitz, Candice Miller, Colby Mugrabi, Ashley Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen, and Lesley Vecsler.
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YAGP 2018 Gala Co-chairs, left to right:
Lesley Vecsler
,
Candice Miller
,
Marcella Guarino Hymowitz,
Ashley Olsen
,
Mary Kate Olsen
,
Colby Mugrabi
(Photo by Stephen Lovkin/WWD)
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One of the unique features of YAGP is providing young dancers with performance opportunities before live audiences on prestigious world stages, alongside renowned professionals, many of whom are YAGP Alumni. As YAGP reaches its 20
th
year, more and more of the dance artists of today are YAGP alumni.
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YAGP GALA "STARS OF TODAY MEET THE STARS OF TOMORROW", Tampa, FL
January 13, 2018
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The Gala at the state-of-the-art David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts featured an all-star cast alongside the most promising young Tampa semi-final participants. The spectacular Gala program was created in collaboration with Daniel Ulbricht (New York City Ballet) and Philip Neal, Artistic Director of New Generation Ballet at the Patel Conservatory.
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YAGP Alumna
Melissa Chapski
(Dutch National Ballet) performing at the 2018 Tampa Gala with partner
Giovanni Princic
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GALA DE DANZA, Los Cabos, Mexico
March 18, 2018
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YAGP's Board member Christina Lyon is the producer of one of the most remarkable dance Gala events, in Los Cabos, Mexico. Taking place at the ultra-modern Viceroy Los Cabos hotel on a custom-built stage, the experience features cutting-edge technology and a breathtaking fusion of visual and performance arts, Gala de Danza is an experience like no other. It has featured YAGP alumni for the past 6 years.
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The breathtaking setting for Gala De Danza features a stage built on the water, and drone technology, projecting the performance onto the stark white walls of the ultra-modern Viceroy Los Cabos hotel. (Photo by NYC Dance Project)
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FESTIVAL BALLET THEATRE GALA
Orange County, CA
August 17, 2018
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The 11th annual "Gala of the Stars" boasted a roster of alumni including Aran Bell and Skylar Brandt (American Ballet Theatre); Beckanne Sisk and Chase O'Connell, (Ballet West) and Matthew Golding, Principal of The Royal Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. The program featured young protégés, who have been selected as standout performers by visiting artistic directors of the Southland Ballet Academy International Summer Intensive and Youth America Grand Prix.
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Skylar Brandt
and
Aran
B
e
ll (American Ballet Theatre) were featured alumni in the Festival Ballet Theatre's Gala cast (Photo by Skye Schmidt)
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Education is at the heart of YAGP’s mission. This season in an effort to expand and enhance its educational activities beyond the core offering of scholarship auditions, master classes the “Ask the Expert Series” and the “Dance in Higher Education Program”, YAGP launched “YAGP EDUCATION”. “YAGP Education is dedicated to building a year round schedule of education programs aimed at enhancing dancers’ and teachers’ knowledge and understanding of a variety of dance and dance related subjects.
One of the most exciting programs of YAGP EDUCATION is ASK THE EXPERT, an educational interview series hosted by TV journalist Sergey Gordeev.
It features conversations with leading dance professionals on a variety of topics, ranging from professional growth as an artist to nutrition, health, and emotional and physical well-being. The first season of ASK THE EXPERT was live-streamed on Facebook Live, drawing thousands of live viewers, and the current season features almost 3 times as many episodes and covers a wider range of topics. To see the latest episodes, and to view the entire First Season of ASK THE EXPERT, visit
www.yagp.org
.
The series joins YAGP's existing educational programs, such as Scholarship Q&A sessions and "Dance in Higher Education" information sessions, which are regularly conducted at our Semi-Final and Final events.
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Alicia Graf Mack
, a longtime YAGP gala guest artist and jury member - and current Director of The Juilliard Dance Division - talks about her journey as a dancer of color and gives important advice for young dancers.
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Sascha Radetsky
, a longtime YAGP guest artist and current artistic director of ABT Studio Company, talks about the first steps after joining a professional dance company.
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Cynthia
Harvey
, Artistic Director of ABT JKO School and
Peter
Stark
, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet discussing the right etiquette for scholarship acceptance at YAGP.
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Susan
Jaffe
, who has been in involved with YAGP from the very first year as a gala guest artist, jury member and master teacher - and current Dean of North Carolina School of the Arts - discusses how the art of acting can inform and enrich dance performance.
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CELEBRATING OUR ESTEEMED JUDGES
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This year, it is not only YAGP that is celebrating its 20th Anniversary: two longtime YAGP judges,
Tadeusz Matacz
and
Claudio Munoz
, are also celebrating their 20th Anniversaries at their respective institutions.
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Tadeusz Matacz
is celebrating 20 years as the Director of Stuttgart Ballet's John Cranko School. Tadeusz has been a member of YAGP's esteemed panel of judges since the very beginning. More than 30 YAGP alumni selected by Tadeusz to study at the John Cranko School are now dancing with such companies as American Ballet Theatre, Dutch National Ballet, and, of course, the Stuttgart Ballet, among many others.
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Claudio Munoz
is celebrating 20 years at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy. He currently heads the academy and Houston Ballet's junior company, Houston Ballet II. Claudio is one of YAGP's most active jury members, constantly traveling the globe in search of new talent. Several generations of YAGP dancers have been nurtured by Claudio, and many alumni are now dancing with the world's leading dance companies.
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Inspired by the award-winning documentary "First Position" - a film that followed six young dancers through their journey to realize their dreams at YAGP's New York City Finals Week - YAGP's First Position Club gives members an exclusive "backstage pass" into the world of dance. It is an inclusive community of dance enthusiasts who share YAGP's mission to ensure the future of dance. Members are invited to events where they can personally interact with YAGP alumni, artists, directors, educators and other celebrated leaders of the dance community, and directly experience the magic of dance on a personal level.
Find out more by contacting Anna Covatta, Assistant Director, Operations and Development at (646)-541-4592 or
acovatta@yagp.org
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Meet the Stars of YAGP: Celebrating Alumni Promotions
February 12, 2018
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With 450 former YAGP participants now dancing in 80 companies all over the world, we try to take every opportunity to celebrate the many alumni who have become members of the YAGP family. This February, YAGP celebrated two recent alumni promotions at New York City Ballet. Friends of YAGP attended a lively panel discussion, moderated by YAGP Board member and former NYCB dancer, Susan Gluck Pappajohn. The evening ended with an informal reception.
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Suzanne Hall
,
Valentino Carlotti
,
Greg Pappajohn and Susan Gluck Pappajohn
, who moderated the discussion, at the reception.
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"On the Road" with YAGP in New York City
February 26, 2018
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YAGP auditions over 10,000 dancers at regional and international semi-finals every year. A regional semi-final was held in Manhattan for the first time. YAGP friends and supporters were invited to Symphony Space to view master classes, onstage auditions and an engaging evening reception hosted by YAGP Board member, Suzanne Hall.
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Board members and friends mingled during the open stage breaks
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Balanchine: City Center Years
a reception honoring YAGP Alumni
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An unprecedented event took place at the New York City Center this fall, honoring the legacy of George Balanchine. Six world-renowned companies came together for a series of
critically acclaimed
performances, featuring some of the iconic choreographer's most notable works. We were proud and excited to see more than 20 YAGP Alumni onstage!
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The Royal Ballet's
Francesca Hayward
and
Marcelino Sambé
in Tarantella.
(Photo by Bill Cooper, Courtesy New York City Center)
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Following a November 2
nd
performance of "Balanchine: City Center Years," alumni, and company directors joined YAGP supporters and ballet patrons at an elegant party to kick off the celebration of YAGP's 20th Anniversary Season, at the lovely home of
Jean
Shafiroff
.
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From left: YAGP Alumna
Sasha De Sola
(San Francisco Ballet) YAGP Board Member
Sergey Gordeev,
Alum
Dylan Gutierrez
(Joffrey Ballet) host
Jean Shafiroff,
Alum
Angelo Greco
(San Francisco Ballet) Alum
Kimin Kim
(Mariinsky Ballet) and Alum
Calvin Royal III
(American Ballet Theatre) at the Balanchine: City Center Years reception. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
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Celebrate YAGP’s 20
th
Anniversary Gala
“Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow”
Thursday, April 18, 2019
at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
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Purchase advance tickets
here
or, for Patron tickets or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Anna Covatta, Assistant Director, Operations and Development at (646) 541-4592 or
acovatta@yagp.org
.
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*All photos by VAM unless otherwise noted
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