Ballet, Modern Competitions Get Added Starters - Youth America Grand Prix - Brief Article

Dance Magazine, Feb, 2000 by Heather Wisner, Karen Dacko, Kate O'Neill

Young dancers can look forward to some new competition opportunities this year: The recently established Youth America Grand Prix is holding regional competitions this winter, culminating in the Grand Finale April 7-9 in New York City. And the National Society of Arts and Letters National Career Awards Competition, held May 18-20 in Chicago, offers a once-in-five-years opportunity for ballet students, since the annual Career Awards Competition rotates among all arts disciplines.

Youth America is designed to be a stepping stone between the dance school and the international competitions at Lausanne, Jackson, and New York City, say its founders, Bolshoi-trained dancers Larisa and Gennadi Saveliev. Regional competitions will be held February 19-20 in Boca Raton, Florida, and February 26-27 in Washington, D.C. Junior division contestants should be ages 12-14, seniors ages 15-19, and American citizenship is not a prereqisite. Performance categories are divided into ballet (classical, contemporary, pas de deux, or character) and contemporary dance (modern, lyrical, and jazz). All competitors are required to register for workshops, which are also open to noncompetitors, including students under 12.

Youth America offers opportunities to take class with dance luminaries including Kevin McKenzie, artistic director of American Ballet Theater, and Anna-Marie Holmes, artistic director of the Boston Ballet. The first prize, to be awarded by McKenzie, is a contract with ABT II. Summer study and full-year scholarships to the Boston Ballet School, the Ailey School, the Joffrey School, and elsewhere will be awarded at the Grand Finale. Dance Magazine will present an Outstanding Ballet Master/Mistress Award to a teacher of a competing student.

Competitors in the Grand Finale should have participated in one of the regional competitions or have sent a video with their application by March 1 to Youth America Grand Prix, 569 Windsor Dr., Palisades Park, NJ 07650. More information may be found at (201) 592-0584 or on the Internet at www.youthgrandprix.com.

Contestants for the NSAL competition must be American citizens, ages 15-21. They must first enter one of the regional competitions being held this spring by NSAL's twenty-seven chapters. Cash awards are made at the regional level; first prize winners in each region receive all-expenses-paid trips to the national competition in Chicago, where the $10,000 first prize and additional cash prizes will be awarded.

Judges for the national competition will include former Joffrey Ballet principal Trinette Singleton, former ABT principal Cynthia Harvey, and former New York City Ballet principal Jillana. Competitors will be judged on their work in a master class and their performance of two classical variations, to be chosen from a specific list.

Applications for the NSAL competition should be made to one of the regional chapters. A list of chapters is available from NSAL, 4227 46th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016, (202) 363-5443 or on the Interact at www.artsnsal.org.