Hundreds of Local Young Ballerinas Compete for Scholarships in Tampa,

Hundreds of aspiring ballet dancers - ages 9 to 19 - from all over Florida will be at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) ballet scholarship auditions.  This is where the next big ballet stars are scouted. Participants go on to dance professionally for American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, New York City Ballet, and more!

WHERE: David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 North W.C. MacInnes Pl., Tampa, Florida, US 33602

WHEN: Friday, January 10 from 9am - 9:40pm | Saturday January 11 from 9am - 9:40pm | Sunday January 12 from 9am - 7pm

Youth America Grand Prix is the largest global network of dance. YAGP fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, and performances. Over the past 25 years, $5 million has been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools, with up to $450,000 now awarded annually. Since YAGP’s founding in 1999, over 200,000 young dancers – ages 9 to 19 – of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds have participated in YAGP's international workshops, audition classes, and dance awareness events. Today, more than 12,000 young dancers audition annually. 450 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 80 professional companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and many others. Over 100 of these alumni are soloists and principal dancers. Larissa Saveliev founded YAGP after training and touring with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, before moving to the United States in the early 90's.