About
YGP reaches over 12,000 dance students annually by holding workshops, scholarship auditions, master classes and audition classes in 25 U.S cities and 8 international locations.
Each season culminates in the week-long New York 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 New York Finals closing night “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” Gala features the students showing the most potential alongside the stars of today’s leading dance companies.
Some of YGP’s significant achievements are:
Over 100,000 dancers have participated in YGP’s workshops, scholarship auditions and master classes worldwide.
Over the past 20 years, YGP has facilitated over $4,000,000 in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools.
Over 450 YGP alumni are now dancing with 80 companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Washington Ballet, among many others.
To identify promising young dance talent, YGP conducts auditions at 28 regional locations in the United States and in Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Japan, and China among others.
YGP’s bi-annual Job Fair is a special audition program giving YGP participants and alumni a chance to be seen and hired by the directors of the world’s leading dance companies.
YGP’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.
YGP’s educational Gala series, Legends in Dance, celebrates artists who have helped shape dance history. Honorees have included Ballerina Assoluta, Natalia Makarova, Master Teacher Peter Pestov, and Danc Legend Vladimir Vasiliev.
In 2005, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized YGP’s contribution to international dance education with a membership in UNESCO’s prestigious Conseil International de la Danse (CID).
In 2007, YGP became the first organization in the 50-year history of Italy’s prestigious Spoleto Dance Festival to present performances by dance students.
In 2011, YGP was featured in the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process series. YGP’s presentation, “How Judges Judge,” gave audiences a rare insight into professional evaluation of dance artists.
YGP aims to develop new audiences by bringing dance into mainstream culture. In 2010, it became the subject of First Position – an award-winning documentary which followed six YGP participants on their journey to YGP’s New York City Finals. In 2013, YGP produced “Ballet’s Greatest Hits” – a filmed Gala performance showcasing excerpts from six of the most beloved classical ballets. Narrated by Nigel Lythgoe, the film combines live performances with exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with dancers, historical backgrounds and rare archival footage.