Mission Statement: To support and develop world-class dancers, ages 9-19, of all economic, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds by providing scholarship auditions, performance and education opportunities, and by serving as the global network of dance, connecting students, teachers, schools, dance companies, dancers, and audiences.
Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world’s largest student ballet competition and scholarship audition. It is the world’s largest dance community, a global network of dance. It fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, educational and outreach activities, performances, and films.
YAGP reaches over 12,000 dance students annually by holding workshops, scholarship auditions, master classes and audition classes at 28 regional semi-finals in the United States and more than 10 international locations. Each season culminates in the week-long Finals, where more than 1,200 of the world’s most promising dancers receive in-depth mentoring and greater scholarship, professional, and performance opportunities. The Finals closing night Gala, “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow,” features the most promising young dance students alongside the stars of today’s leading dance companies.
To identify promising young dance talent, YAGP conducts auditions at 28 regional locations in the United States and around the world, including audition events in Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Japan, and China among others.
YAGP’s bi-annual Job Fair is a special audition program giving YAGP participants and alumni a chance to be seen and hired by the directors of the world’s leading dance companies.
YAGP’s Emerging Choreographer Series provides an opportunity for upcoming choreographers to present their work to the international dance community. The series has featured Camille A. Brown, Marcelo Gomes, Adam Hougland, Susan Jaffe, and Justin Peck, among others.
YAGP’s educational Gala series, Legends In Dance, celebrates artists who have helped shape dance history. Honorees have included the legendary Ballerina Assoluta, Natalia Makarova, master teacher Peter Pestov, Julio Bocca, and the legendary Russian dancer,
Vladimir Vasiliev.
