Review: YAGP Final Round and Gala Shone More Brightly Than Ever in 2018

The eagerly anticipated 2018 NYC Final Round and Gala of Youth America Grand Prix were the best I've seen in all my years of covering YAGP. On the evening of April 18th at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, the technical prowess as well as the beyond-their-years artistry of the competitors in the Final Round gave credence to YAGP's slogan: "Ensuring the Future of Dance". The young dancers, including Juniors age 12 to 14 and Seniors age 15 to 19, made it to the NYC stage after over 10,000 talented dance students auditioned at semi-finals around the world. In addition, nearly 1800 finalists were in New York during April to audition for scholarships and contracts to top ballet schools and companies. YAGP gives $300,000 in scholarships annually.

A distinguished international panel of judges deliberated on who would be the winners that were announced on Friday, April 20th at an Awards Ceremony.

Of particular note among the NYC Final Round participants in my opinion were Margarita Fernandez, age 13, from Portugal; Mahalaya Tintianco-Cubales, age 13 from the USA; Aoi Sawano, age 14 from Japan; Misha Broderick, age 12 from the USA; Antonio Casalinho, age 14 from Portugal; Masaki Suetsgu, age 14 from Japan; Elisabeth Bayer, age 15 from the USA; Bel Pickering, age 16 from the UK; Carolyne Freitas Galvao, age 17 from Brazil; and Yuma Matsuura, age 15 from Japan.

Here are the 2018 winners as posted on the YAGP site, http://yagp.org/?page_id=7088

The following evening, April 19th, a sold-out house at the Koch was treated to the annual YAGP "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" Gala with selected 2018 YAGP finalists and a stellar roster of professionals. NBC's Hoda Kotb, the host ,was charged with the task of letting the audience know the unfortunate news that the famed Russian ballerina from the Boshoi, Olga Smirnova, and Boshoi Soloist Jacopo Tissi would not perform as previously announced because they were denied visas. Here's the full story in Pointe magazine. Even so, the rest of the lineup was superb, both the students and the pros.

The first performer to take the stage was a little prodigy from Indonesia, 11-year-old Rebecca Alexandria Hadibroto. A participant in YAGP's pre-competitive division for youngsters 9 to 11, she danced a variation from "The Fairy Doll" with flawless control and a winsome stage presence that endeared her to the audience. Other stand-outs among the Stars of Tomorrow were the aforementioned 14-year-old, Antonio Casalinho crushing the virtuoso variation from "Le Corsaire; Elisabeth Bayer, also mentioned above, in a dazzling rendition of the competition staple from "La Esmeralda"; and a cheer-worthy group piece, "Dances of the Caucasus Mountains" from Portugal, with the young men displaying Moiseyev-like prowess in executing bravura character steps and the ladies playing maracas as they moved in intricate patterns. Speaking of cheering, the clearly knowledgeable dance students who peppered the audience hooted, hollered, and clapped in honest appreciation for all their favorites throughout the evening.

Moving on to The Stars of Today, each star was preceded by a projection of childhood photos accompanied by pianist Rosalia Malik. I was especially impressed by YAGP Alumna Alexandra (Sasha) Mukhamedov, a Principal at Dutch National Ballet, and Constantine Allen, also a YAGP Alum, currently First Soloist with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, in their New York professional debuts performing choreographer David Dawson's On the Nature of Daylight set to music by Max Richter. Also commendable were Mariinsky Ballet Principal Dancer Kimin Kim who joined the company after winning the Grand Prix award at YAGP in 2012, in the Pas de Deux from Don Quixote with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer and YAGP Alumna Isabella Boylston. Kim did get a visa to enter the USA from Russia, as noted in the earlier linked article in Pointe magazine. Other favorites of mine were a spunky, highflying trio - Daniel Ulbricht, Denys Drozdyk, and Lex Ishimoto -- in Tres Homebres with choreography by Ulbricht to music by Astor Pazzola; ABT's amazing Danil Simkin dancing Le Bourgeois choreographed by Ben Van Cauwenbergh to the music of Jaques Brel; and the Final Pas de Deux from choreographer Yuri Possokhov's "Bells" danced by Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Guitierrez of the Joffrey Ballet to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff performed live by Vassily Primakov at the piano.

Ah, but the evening's pièce de résistance was the always astonishing Grand Defilé. Choreographed this year by Carlos dos Santos, Jr to the music of Tchaikovsky, the piece was performed by 450 YAGP Finalists ages 9 to 19 who hail from 86 countries and speak 13 different languages. The final pose, with all of the dancers on stage, elicited well-deserved roars of approval and a standing ovation.

My only quibble is not with YAGP, founded by Larissa and Gennadi Seveliev, but with the behavior of the adults in the audience. The young people were attentive and enthusiastic, but many of the grown-ups whipped out cell phones and sent text messages so that light from the screens distracted those around them. Next year, an announcement about not using phones during the performance might mitigate this rude conduct of the part of the dancegoers.

Photo by Vam Productions