Welcome YAGP competitors

Welcome to all the dancers who will be competing at the Straz Center this weekend!

Next Generation Ballet dancer Olivia Gusti. Photo by VAM.

More than 300 dancers from over 45 dance studios around the state and beyond will compete this weekend in the Tampa semi-final of the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), the world’s largest student ballet competition, which will be held at the Straz Center through Sunday. More than 30 of our Next Generation Ballet dancers will be competing.

It’s an event-filled weekend that includes an extraordinary dance performance Saturday evening, Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow.

In Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow, top students from the competition will perform along with international ballet stars from some of the most renowned dance companies in the world.

YAGP brings this unique gala performance, which sells out annually in New York City, to Tampa for the third consecutive year.

The show features St. Petersburg natives Daniel Ulbricht (principal dancer, New York City Ballet) and Alison Miller (soloist, Houston Ballet) as well as Winter Park native Emily Kadow (YAGP alumna and San Francisco Ballet corps de ballet dancer).

Other featured dancers include Beckanne Sisk (star of the CW hit reality show Breaking Pointe and YAGP alumna), Veronika Part (principal dancer American Ballet Theatre) and Ashley Bouder (principal dancer New York City Ballet, among others.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to see the best of the best on one stage this Sat., Jan 4, 2014 at 8 p.m. at the Straz Center.

Following the competition, students will have the opportunity to take master classes throughout the day on Sunday. And, on Sunday evening, Jan. 5, the Straz Center’s Next Generation Ballet (NGB) will host auditions for our summer intensive at the Patel Conservatory.

For more information about NGB, please call 813.222.1002 or visit strazcenter.org/nextgenerationballet.

Best of luck to all competitors!