Youth America Grand Prix to Stream 20th Anniversary Final Round on Facebook Live

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) - the world's largest ballet scholarship competition - will Facebook livestream its 2019 Final Round on Friday, April 17 at 7pm EST and Saturday, April 18 at 7am EST for European and South-Pacific audiences.

Annually, over 12,000 aspiring dancers - ages 9 to 19 - audition at YAGP semi-finals around the globe; 34 cities in 14 countries. Over 1,200 finalists from 36 countries qualify for the New York City Finals - and only the very best earn a spot in the Final Round at Lincoln Center. With COVID-19 closing venues and large gatherings, YAGP's 2020 Finals were cancelled.

"This week the international world of dance would have gathered to watch the YAGP Final Round and Gala," said YAGP Founder and Artistic Director Larissa Saveliev, "and we wanted to celebrate our talented young dancers by showcasing them online to audiences around the world". YAGP will Facebook livestream video footage of 85 dancers (Junior and Senior categories of both men and women), from its 20th Anniversary 2019 Final Round. Variations include Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Harlequinade, Giselle, La Esmeralda, Paquita, and Swan Lake. The expected runtime is 2 hours and 45 minutes. YAGP's Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/YouthAmericaGrandPrix.

Many participants in the livestreamed Final Round won scholarships to top schools and companies worldwide; others were scouted for job offers and apprenticeships. They include:

• Grace Carroll (15) and Summer Duyvestyn (12) are training at Paris Opera Ballet School.
• Julia Shugart (16) and Elise Cho (12) are training at The Royal Ballet School.
• Arthur Erlanson (16) received a contract to ABT Studio Company.
• Soana Madsen (17) is now dancing with Boston Ballet II.
• Eri Shibata (17) is now dancing with English National Ballet.
• Nao Harada (19) received a contract to Finnish National Ballet.
• Francisco Schilereff (19) received an apprenticeship to Miami City Ballet.
• Gabriel Figueredo (18) and Bridget Lee (18) are dancing with The Stuttgart Ballet.
• Joaquin Gaubeca (16), Arianna Crosato Neumann (16), Aoi Sawano (15), Ruth Schultz (15), Ava Arbuckle (14), Stephanie McQuire (13), and Ayako Tsukada (12) are training at John Cranko School of The Stuttgart Ballet.
• Isaac Mueller (17), Juan Valdez Ramerez (16), Sophia Zonni (14), Abra Geiger (14), and Minchul Jeon (14) are training at Dutch National Ballet Academy.
• Harold Mendez (17), Basia Rhoden (16), Emma Spillane (15), and Nana Oda (13) are training at San Francisco Ballet School.
• Brooke Noska (15), Darrion Sellman (14), Ella Kolpakov (13), Bianca Andreea Badea (12), and Hector Jain (12) are training at Princess Grace Academy in Monaco.

To support dancers while they are staying at home, YAGP has also launched a new Virtual Scholarship Program and Free Online Classes. Every dancer who placed in the top 12, Classical Category, during the 2020 YAGP Semi-Finals is eligible to apply for scholarships to top dance institutions through YAGP. With YAGP's extensive global repertoire of alumni and affiliated dance professionals, free online classes are available for all dancers of any level. Teachers include Luca Masala (Artistic Director of Monaco's Princess Grace Academy), Sasha De Sola (YAGP Alumna and Principal Dancer at San Francisco Ballet), Maria Khoreva (Mariinsky Ballet), Kathryn Morgan (Miami City Ballet), Skylar Brandt (American Ballet Theatre), Peter Stark (Boston Ballet), Oliver Matz (Zurich Dance Academy), Jason Beechey (Palucca School Dresden), and TONY-nominated Broadway performer Karine Plantadit (YAGP Judge and Emcee, former dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) teaching a special class on the Horton technique for ballet dancers. As the YAGP community practices social distancing, its social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube) are providing these daily classes at 12pm EST, which will remain available on each channel permanently.

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