Larissa Saveliev is the Founder and Artistic Director of Youth America Grand Prix. Born in Moscow, she trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and danced with the Stanislavsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet, before emigrating to the United States in 1994. She went on to perform with the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and Tulsa Ballet, and began an active teaching career. In 1999, together with Gennadi Saveliev, Larissa founded Youth America Grand Prix, in order to fill the void in connecting students and teachers with school and company directors, and to provide continuing educational and professional opportunities to dancers worldwide. Larissa Saveliev is the 2014 recipient of the Dance Magazine Award, recipient of the 2014 “Educator of the Year”award from the Russian-American Foundation. In 2015 she was recognized by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York for her Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to Community Improvement. In 2017, Larissa Saveliev was named one of the top 25 most influential people in dance by Dance Magazine, and is a part of the Dance Magazine Advisory Board.